What will you do all day when you retire?

Sometimes, when people ask me what I do for a living and I tell them I'm a retirement coach and trainer, they'll say, 'Oh, I'm never going to need your services - I know exactly what I'm going to do when I retire... I'm going to spend all my time gardening' (or playing golf or __________ (you fill in the blank)).  And when they do, I immediately think of the following quote by Dr Richard Johnson:

‘When hobbies become your full-time endeavour, then your hobby becomes your work; it ceases to be your hobby.  When this happens, the power of the hobby to provide rejuvenation, stimulation and enrichment is lost.  The paradox of hobbies is that in order to enjoy hobbies you must have some type of work in your life, some type of activity from which hobbies can be a diversion.’

So, my questions for you today are:

How much do you agree with the above quotation?

Have you seen this happen to other retirees?

How many people do you know who have retired to a life that revolves around their hobbies and then,  a few months later, got themselves another job because their hobbies weren’t  ‘enough’?

Could you see this happening to you?  And if so, what are you going to do about it?

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For over 500 questions designed to help you get the happy, healthy, vital, productive, energetic, prosperous and fulfilling retirement you deserve, buy my new, immediately downloadable book: Thought Provokers: Questions You Need To Ask Yourself BEFORE You Retire.

Comments

[Mary]

I agree. I live in a retirement community and I see people make volunteering and hobbies their jobs all the time. I don't really want that. I'm retiring in Jan. and it will be a struggle, but I'm going to blog about it...that might help.
Mary

[Ann Harrison]

Looking forward to hearing all about it, Mary. Will you drop back in and give us your blog name and URL when you start it?

Ann