Remaining Relevant into Retirement

Being relevant is integral to our self-esteem, drives our daily choices and influences our interactions. One aspect of retirement that often is overlooked is replacing the purposeful life that we once enjoyed as a member of the fire service—serving others.

Although the fire service was our employment, having purpose, importance and association defined us. That made us relevant to ourselves and to others. When our status quo is interrupted and we relinquish who we were, our deep-rooted and personal fear of losing influence, connections and significance, which we cherished as firefighters, disappears. Losing our work identity, workplace connections and professional growth might leave us with the feeling of being obsolete and unproductive. Our achievements governed our self-esteem. Without a continued feeling of making a difference to ourselves and to others, we feel empty. One day we are driven, we’re relevant, we have meaning; the next day we experience a sense of loss and are disconnected from what provided substance.

Failing to consider how to remain relevant into retirement can result in emotional, mental and behavioral distress for the retiree. As stated by Christine Whelan in her book, “The Big Picture: A Guide to Finding Purpose in Life,” it is important to note that a career provides the source of a person’s relevance, not the actual worth of the individual.

Discovering suitable substitutes for the loss of identity, belonging and purpose requires retirees to expand their portfolio and to seek new activities, self-expression and association.

Many fire service veterans describe their work purpose as providing responsibility, dependability and commitment. Work provides a schedule of activities, develops relationships, forges alliances, provides a sense of security and defines our mission. We’re productive and have relevance. Retirement can be aggravated when we lose the uniqueness and the challenges that work provided and when we no longer belong to our surrogate family.

Keystones

Retiring from the fire service is a huge life-changing event. Often, this transition to our next chapter is much more difficult than the challenges that we endured throughout our career. Retirement introduces new emotional, mental health, physical and relationship dynamics to the individual and his/her family.

From a mental, emotional and physical standpoint, there are several keys to a healthy and meaningful retirement. Research confirms that retirees who planned on replacing their “work” purpose with other purposeful activities, interactions and relationships lead healthier lives. Perhaps none is more important than identifying an appropriate replacement for one of the primary motivators of human behavior: purposeful pursuit. Our ambition and success are derived from our sense of purpose (being passionate about a cause). Purpose drives individual improvement and fulfillment, which helps us to succeed and to remain confident in all of our actions.

Relevance is a combination of our talents, knowledge, passions and values, applied to relationships and activities that we find satisfying and fulfilling. Being relevant promotes cognitive health, contributes to our physical and emotional wellness and strengthens relationships. Staying relevant means embracing relationships, being affiliated and being part of something bigger than oneself and finding satisfaction in making a difference in oneself or others.

Individual purpose and relevance are unique to everyone, and there are no clear-cut equations to define what is significant to the individual. Some might find that their chosen vocation provides purpose. Others might link purpose to the cohesiveness of their relationships. Still others might identify their problem-solving skills as providing meaningfulness. What turns you on is both intrinsic and influenced by your environment.

‘To,’ not ‘from’

Social psychology suggests that if we reshape our view of retirement to thinking of what we’re retiring “to” rather than what we’re retiring “from,” it can help us to focus our pursuit of finding purpose and remaining relevant. Finding our sense of direction in this manner helps to define what inspires and provides meaning.

The fire service offers a true sense of purpose—shared and individual. Having purpose in mission, belonging and contributing to something greater fulfills our need for personal accomplishment. The values that attracted us to the fire service are notable in that they also are the reason that we often struggle with our emotional response to retirement

In the March 1992 issue of Psychology and Aging, in their article, "Framing the Construct of Life Satisfaction in Terms of Older Adults' Personal Goals," B.D. Rapkin and K. Fischer wrote, "Having life goals that continue into retirement is more important than the nature of those goals when it comes to a successful transition." Pre-retirement planning should begin at least five years before leaving the fire service. This allows the prospective retiree to contemplate his/her life goals and to apply new skills, knowledge and learning to future ventures. Pre-retirement planning also allows time to try a different vocation, such as teaching, and to expand one’s social network. Experimenting with different ideas in pre-retirement is supported by science. Psychosocial research demonstrates that when we retire, we tend to maintain the same activities, behaviors and relationships that were formed over our career. This continuity is explained by the premise that individuals are regularly guided by existing internal mental frameworks, which makes them more likely to maintain similar patterns of behaviors or lifestyles across time, changing only slowly. We are creatures of habit. If you aren’t doing something prior to retirement, then it’s unlikely that you will begin something “new” in retirement, particularly during the early transition stage of retirement. Exploring new hobbies, volunteer opportunities, documenting your career (writing) or other interests can’t begin soon enough when contemplating retirement.

Embracing the unknown

Finding purpose in retirement often means applying the learnings that one accumulates over a career to a new, untested interest, hobby or other activity. That said, adopting a new passion and purpose often is difficult to grasp for the newly retired. Uncovering what is meaningful and energizing, which provides a sense of accomplishment, isn’t easy to define. Finding a new passion might require a move away from those comfortable activities, which, when working, provided a sense of meaning. Finding value-added activities also might necessitate establishing a new circle of friends as well as exploring and experimenting with different interests. It’s vital that pre-retirement planning include a consideration of what will now consume the “free” time in life.

Busy vs. fulfilled

Having a healthy retirement often is predicated on how time is spent. There is a big difference between being “busy” and enjoying “fulfillment” in retirement. Being busy is short-term, generally experienced during the first few months of retirement. A feeling of fulfillment is a lasting emotional and mental reaction to having purposeful activities and relationships. Larry Jacobson, who is the author of “The Big Problem New Retirees Run Into,” says finding fulfillment is more a process than an event and often is elusive. However, once found, fulfillment provides long-term satisfaction that leads to relevancy. Fulfilling our psychological, social and physical needs with “quality” activity is important.

As you plan for retirement, consider these suggestions for remaining relevant.

• Identify your core values. Values influence attitude and behavior and provide a foundation of understanding for motivation. Pursue core values to reveal purpose and subsequent relevance.
• Issues of behavioral, physical and mental health are reduced when time is spent in mutually satisfying, healthy social interactions and pursuits. Seeking new friendships through social groups, organizations and other interests should be a priority. Building a base of friendships that are outside of the work environment makes the transition to retirement less problematic.
• Maintaining your relationship with your former department offers the benefit of giving back. Perhaps offer to provide continuing education to younger members or form a retiree social group with your fellow retirees. Remaining engaged is good for the mind and the spirit.
• Many retirees report that the most important factor for maintaining good physical and mental health in retirement is to embrace an active lifestyle. Continuing with your physical fitness and wellness choices pays dividends. Studies show that overall physical and mental health is closely tied to the level of physical activity of the individual.
• Mentor, teach, coach. Share your knowledge and passion.
• Seek opportunities to apply skills, attributes and expertise that are learned and practiced over your career. Senior-level management requires a high degree of independent decision-making, organizational and communication competencies and critical-thinking skills. Applying these talents and knowledge in the civilian world is vital to maintain cognition and meaningfulness into retired life. Find purpose by serving as a board member for a nonprofit, starting a business venture or mentoring young leaders through a service organization.
• Invest in yourself. Stay curious. Stay active. Join a cause.
• Optimism is a force multiplier. Maintaining a positive outlook enables us to apply positive coping mechanisms and to reduce harmful stress on our body.
• Seek other retirees for advice, ideas and guidance.
• Planning for retirement must include family members. Retirement affects the entire family. Involving family members in pre-retirement planning is a crucial step, because retirement generally is viewed as a family transition. The family provides support, insight, influence, closeness and validation that other institutions do not add.

Retirement isn’t a stationary target to hit. Remaining relevant into retirement means evolving. Finding clarity in purpose leads to remaining relevant into retirement.