A recent conversation with my daughter-in-law and the birth of our first grandchild provided a point of reflection on where I am at in “What’s Next”. Perhaps my impending 60th birthday was an added impetus?
It’s been over three and a half years since my last day in the office. While I didn’t formally retire until 30 June 2015, I effectively retired from my firm at the end of March in that year.
So here’s my report card.
I haven’t missed the office for even one day! Continue reading
Just over a year after retiring from my firm I attended the Annual Retired Partner Dinner. It was my first as a retired partner. I walked into a place that I’d known so well for over 20 years but this time as a guest rather than a host. It felt quite strange. I was greeted by my former partners as a guest, no longer as a colleague. I was no longer an insider, this wasn’t my place anymore.
This was definitely a “What’s Next” moment.
I certainly hadn’t gone “cold turkey” on my old firm. I had been in contact with a number of people since but for those who I hadn’t seen there were the inevitable questions. What was I upto? What had I been doing?
Cefalu, Sicily
I talked about our travels and then there were questions about whether I was consulting on boards etc?
This is where all conversations seem to head. The assumption is very much that after a career in consulting that I’d continue but in my case I haven’t. For me the process of “What’s Next” was reaching the decision that consulting was not a key part of my post professional life. Sure I have a couple of consulting roles, but really I had taken the student route and I definitely feel most comfortable with being described as such.
As the conversations over the evening continued, I said that while I’d loved my time in professional services that I was now really enjoying being out of it and being incognito. Continue reading
Old Town Hall & Astrological Clock – Prague
Since leaving my life as a professional I seem to have had time but not at the moment.
In the last couple of weeks I have felt the pressure of the clock. For the first time since I embarked on “What’s Next”, I have felt the constant pressure of the ticking of the clock.
I am about to hit my first progress report for my PhD with a half written proposal. It seemed such a long way off when I started this journey in early March. Then there is preparing papers to present at two conferences in California in early August. The deadline for these is just days away.
Our short trip to California for these conferences looms large. We leave in 7 days. I feel far from the relaxed self that The Diary of a Slow Traveler has portrayed. Our recent travels have given us the opportunity to luxuriate in our travel plans, selecting accommodation and places to visit. Not this time! Bookings through a travel agent and all the restrictions that come with that. Time constraints necessitating just 2 weeks away and then being tied to conference locations which not unpleasant are far from what I’d describe as the life of a Slow Traveler.
Perhaps the most interesting has been the realization that in recent weeks I haven’t had time for my blog. Each time I have thought about a post, I’ve had the clock ticking in the background and the ever present feeling that I don’t have time for this. So annoying!
I feel quite guilty grabbing the 15 minutes to write this post – tick, tick, tick
Big Ben – London
Hardware Societe – Melbourne
I use the weekend coffee share post as my period of reflection. The opportunity to think back over my week. What better to do than over a coffee?
This week I have written more than a thousand words on my PhD Thesis proposal. It’s also been a week where I have found an opportunity to pursue an idea I have been musing over, about converting my own experiences in transitioning to retirement into something that might be useful for others facing the same daunting challenge.
It’s also been a week where I rediscovered the music of The Moody Blues, a band that had been a regular listen during my high school years. This might seem unimportant but as I’ve wrestled with my thesis proposal I’ve been frustrated about what music to listen too!
While making a serious start on my thesis proposal is important, it’s been the concept of converting my own experiences into something that others might find useful, as they plan their own transitions that has captured my imagination. Continue reading
Gran Caffe Gambrinus -Naples
If we were having coffee I would ask you why do you write your blog?
Is it in the hope that you’ll make your fortune, that someone will actually read and like it, or some other reason?
As I was sitting at coffee this morning I was asking myself these very questions. This was in part because I was surprised that almost no one had viewed my post on Record Store Day. Sipping my flat white, I asked myself why it mattered? Normally I’m not fussed because my blog although public was more an outlet for me to meet a goal I set myself of writing a thousand words a month as I planned for “What’s Next” . I worked out early that there was no fortune to be made with www.browney237.com!
As I reflected on this, I realised that my post on Record Store Day had been written from a different perspective to many of my other posts. Continue reading