You won't know when it's time
Not until something is pulling you forward
Coming up Tuesday night: I am excited to offer a free masterclass on August 4th at 6 PM CST called “Don’t Quit Your Job (Yet).” This isn’t necessarily for people who are ready to retire, although you could be. It’s for people who want to know what’s next for them beyond their jobs. If you want to get fired up about your next season, this hour is for you. Follow this LINK to save your seat!
This is the last in a five-part series on the blockages that keep us parked in "safe" jobs when we should be thinking about what's next. We've covered money fears, who you are without your title, prioritizing your most important relationship, and the guilt tied to leaving your job. This week I want to close with what I believe to be the most important consideration: Purpose.
Listen here.
"The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." — Frederick Buechner
Last week Joe said something a lot of us say to ourselves: “I always tell myself, I will know when it’s time, but will I really?”
I’ve heard some version of this from a lot of people. Many of them have been saying it for years.
Fifteen of the 52 leaders I surveyed had already retired. I went back through their answers looking for more insight.
Every transition they called successful had the same thing in common: something compelling pulling them forward. Mentoring. Teaching. Farming. A fitness community. A daily routine that was already up and running.
And they started it while they were still working.
One person put it this way: “Most people know what they are tired of, but they have not really defined what they are moving toward.”
Try it in your own case. You can probably list ten things you’re tired of: office politics, early morning meetings, shifting priorities, death by PowerPoint. Now list the things you’re excited about. If your second list is thin, pay attention.
One retired leader said: “I wasn’t retiring from something, I was retiring TO something.”
Researchers have actually measured this.
Doctors at Rush University scored nearly a thousand older adults on sense of purpose and followed them for years. The high scorers were 2.4 times more likely to stay free of Alzheimer’s. A separate team followed more than 6,000 adults for 14 years and found that purpose predicted a longer life at every age, retired or not.
A long life still needs a reason. I believe that serving other people must be a major part of that reason. If it’s only about me, what’s the point?
So in short, purpose matters.
Let’s make this practical. I want you to run a pilot test. Here are three things you can do while you’re still working to think about what’s next:
Pick it. The one thing you keep coming back to. The teaching, the mentoring, the church ministry, the business idea. Spend time each week daydreaming about what you would do if money were no object.
Start small. I’ve heard a lot of people say, “Yeah, I’ll probably volunteer when I retire.” My question is, why not now? One retired leader had been mentoring young women for years before she left. When her last day came, retirement meant more hours for something she already loved.
Run the pilot long enough to answer three questions. Do I love this, or just the idea of it? Does it give me a fresh community of people outside of work? Does it make me excited about my future?
I did this myself, mostly by accident. My company paid for a Maxwell Leadership coaching certification in 2023. I used it to serve my teams and peers through masterminds and one-on-one coaching at work. That was two years before I left. When I walked out last December, I was walking toward work I already knew I loved. That’s why I left early. I didn’t want to wait any longer to add value to leaders full time.
What’s next for you
Pick the thing you keep saying you’ll do someday. Give it two hours this week, while you still have the job.
Two hours a week is about 100 hours a year. That number turns up in a Harvard analysis of 13,000 Americans over 50. People who volunteered 100 hours a year had lower mortality, better physical function, and more sense of purpose than people who did nothing.
As we close out this series, I’ll come back to one last survey comment I keep thinking about: “People wait an entire lifetime to retire and don’t get to enjoy it.”
Don’t let that be you.
Perhaps you’re in great financial shape, on your way there, or several years out. What you need is a compelling purpose worth building toward. A way to give the best of what you have to serve others. Start now. When you are doing something you love, the timing question will answer itself as you get in motion.
I don’t know about you, but I always make more progress when I’m in a group of like-minded people moving in the same direction. That’s exactly what my “Don’t Quit Your Job (Yet)” masterclass will cover this Tuesday evening at 6 PM. Make time to join us for this hour: Don’t Quit Your Job (Yet)
See you next Sunday.
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