Personal Development 101
A year ago I was still an employee. I was chaffing at the limitations of that role and some personality conflicts that would eventually convince me to retire. At that point, however, I was not feeling like a ‘short timer’ as we used to say in the Army. I was still committed to my job and employer. The task at hand was a speech to an industry group. I had been a regular speaker to this group over the past 20 years. I wasn’t uncomfortable about doing it but I did feel that my skills could be improved. My style was authoritative and I never persuaded anybody to change their thinking. I just lectured.
Add Some Humor
I decided this time to change myself and improve my technique. This involved a different method of organizing the talk which is a normal part of my skill set and telling a joke which is not. I decided that just because I never had been able to use humor in my talks and believed myself unable to relate to an audience through humor, I was going to do it anyway. After all, what is the worst thing that could happen? If people didn’t laugh then it would be just like my other talks. My talk went well. People laughed at my joke and got more involved in my talk.
Lifestyle Design: Growing my vision of myself
This was my first acceptance of the idea that I can change who I am. I began to believe that my definition of myself only set limits on what I could achieve. It did not identify my potential. I am capable of more than I think I am. This is the way I am dealing with my retired life. What I think I am or am capable of doing is only a starting point. I am a blank slate ready to fill with my outrageous retirement story. I am still constantly struggling to get past the limits I place on myself and focus on the person I want to be but I also surprise myself with what I can do.
Don’t Limit Yourself
I think that we all have a person inside of us with amazing abilities. The only thing keeping that person hidden is our limiting belief in who we are. Any time is a good time to open your thinking and be that person but retirement is special because there are no longer outside forces telling us what to do. What do you want to be? What would you like to be remembered as? Do you want to change who you are? What changes are you making to be the person you want to be whether in retirement or anytime? Share your thoughts or feelings in a comment.
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