Framing

“For there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so”. Hamlet.

Think of yourself looking through a window to the world outside. The window has a frame and this frame cuts out a section of the world for you to admire. But it’s only a small section, not the entire world, and you know that.

In addition, this concept of frame has an abstract cousin. For example, the world of advertising is very canny and exploits the difficulty we have in distinguishing 90% lean from 10% fat on a packet of beef. This is an abstract version of a frame and we have to decide which of those – lean or fat – we will use to make sense of our purchase. Even in our language we frequently hear the comparison between the glass half full and the glass half empty; over which definition optimists and pessimists compete.

In retirement you can also frame your outcomes. So, in your world of work you probably thought that you were time poor and constrained; whilst in retirement you can think that you will have acres of free time that will set you free.

Free to do what exactly? Free to experiment and settle on activities and a lifestyle that gives you pleasure. That has to be worthwhile.

Retirement: You won’t know what it is like until you get there.