What if you don't get a retirement?

Right from the beginning of my coaching journey one of the reasons I was so passionate about my work was to try to help people avoid putting things off until a never-arriving point in the future. When the children are older, when you get your next promotion, when you’ve saved more, when you’re less busy or the one that made me shudder, when you retire!

Life is too short to keep putting things off. Especially when we’ve already faced a life-altering diagnosis. As I shared recently, I sat in a church last Christmas listening to a wonderful concert and was genuinely worried about not actually getting a retirement. And in that moment, as exhausted as I was, I made myself a promise that no matter what, I’d find a way to do the things that will bring me joy, that will give me pleasure and make me feel like I’m living, not just existing.

I had no idea how in that moment, but something in me had shifted and in the months that have followed I’ve made it happen.

Recently I was coaching someone who was struggling with getting things done. She was procrastinating, feeling overwhelmed and like she wasn’t giving her all to anything. And as an aside she added that she couldn’t remember who she was, what she enjoyed or what she even liked anymore. But she emphasised that the first issue was the important one to focus on.

I listened and gently suggested that we actually needed to flip the script. What if the reason she was overwhelmed, procrastinating and stressed was that she wasn’t allowing herself to stop, do the things she loved and enjoy herself?

It was like watching a light-bulb go off over her head. By the end of the session she had created a plan that included making time for herself, her needs and the things she loves.

Waiting until you aren’t busy, you’ve achieved your next goal or until you retire before you make time for the things you love or find a way to achieve your dreams is not living. It’s putting off life. Find a way to make it happen now. You owe it to yourself and, as my client realised, if you’re happy and having fun everyone else in your life benefits too.

Go grab life.