Downhill All The Way? Retirement or Re-Boot?

It is hard to come to the end of our "normal" working lives. It is a big deal, to finish. It can feel pretty scary and for many of us, there is not much advice out there on how to handle it. This little piece is posted in case it can help others treading their way with trepidation towards the one-way turnstile marked "Retirement".

I retired at the end of September this year. As I had been working part-time for three years, it was more a glide path to the end than a hard stop, but even so, after working pretty much flat-out since 1989 - that last day felt weird... I was untethered from a job I loved and the routines of work, from a job-title, from all that was familiar. It was a nerve-crushing time of uncertainty.

I know many people who start retirement almost as though on a bucking bronco, waving their cowboy hat in the air at the thought of all that FREE TIME - only to come crashing to earth in the reality of the days and weeks stretching ahead. Others have the whole thing mapped out with clinical precision. It varies. Either way, it is not always easy.

Me? I started my retirement in a quintessentially British way - a queue, in the rain. Thanks to Brexit, I was lining up for a visa for France. As I shunted between desks, documents and biometrics, I wondered what on earth I was doing, and what on earth would I do next.

This all happened at exactly the same time the press was screeching stories about how someone was told they were Too Old At 57 to even consider getting another job. I am 58. I felt old as I sat for the camera to have my picture taken for the visa. Jeepers, that picture, now a permanent feature in my current passport, shows a woman who looks every inch at the end of the process, the queue, the litany of what it is to be "gainfully employed". When I saw that face peering out at me, I heard the brisk tones of Violet Crawley - for this, dear reader, Simply Would Not Do.

So what to do? Writers always advise that authors should write about what they know. I did a rapid audit. I can confirm the following: I can transfer between flights at Jo'burg Airport at 05:00 on no sleep without getting lost. I can race a Hobie Cat, with absolutely no prior experience, with Sir Richard Branson as skipper, I can speak to 12,000 people, without notes, and have them cheering their heads off. I can park a fairly large car in a very tight space in a carpark in one smooth movement. All of that data is helpful, sure, but not really useful to solve the Great Retirement Quandary. What was I to do? So, I thought again.

I do know about Board Work. I know about conflict, about change, about succession, about effectiveness and failure. I have about 30 years' experience of preparing for, leading, presenting, persuading, defending - in and around Boardrooms. Surely, there was something in that? I had helped a few charities with advice while I was working - so...maybe?

I popped open my LinkedIn profile and changed it- to offer my time as an advisor to CEOs, Chairs and Boards, something I can do pro-bono. To save the changes to the profile, I had to put a company name down, so I made one up - there is no company, there is only me, a lone gun (not literally) for hire - for free. Not exactly like The Avengers -although in a very poor light, from the back and behind a pillar, I might be mistaken for Mrs Peel - but it is a consultancy for those who need help, sometimes urgently, nevertheless.

I had no idea if it would work and so bought that gym pass, etc, etc - but hey... the enquiries started to come in. Suddenly, that dreary day in the queue in September looked a very long way away. I haven't so much as retired as re-booted or re-set.

All of us have talents, skills and experience by the bucketload by the time we retire. We hold a vast reservoir of information that is useful - and we also have time. If you are anxious about the ending, try doing an audit of all you can do, the people you know who can help you, and what gives you joy. The list will be extensive and exciting and the opportunities will open up.

We don't need Ruby Slippers to take us there - a relief as the last pair just sold for $28m and not many of us have that much change down the back of the sofa. No - we just need belief in ourselves, our abilities and the future that lies ahead for us, just on the other side of the turnstile.

I am currently working on interesting projects with some great people, and have capacity for more into 2025.

So, if you have a Board-related problem, if no-one else can help ;) .... just drop me a line here and let's see what we can do.

Loads of love,

Your friend,

Nicola