Creation and Achievement Deficit: CAD

The previous post discussed the concept of an identity bridge. You can construct this abstract bridge in order to connect your life of work to your life of post-work. This is a very sound idea, but hard to do on your own.

A retirement coach can assist you to construct a bridge that spans that gap. How does this relate to CAD?

When you worked you almost certainly “made things” whatever that was for you: physical objects, written reports, food and so on. Write your own list. Importantly, there was an emotional core to this, felt at a very deep level: after creating something you felt a sense of achievement. Fantastic.

However, in retirement – no longer having the discipline and routine of work - you may suffer from a deficit of Creation and Achievement: CAD. What to do?

Where did your sense of achievement at work come from? Here is a very short list of possibilities:

·      Helping others

·      Showing your intelligence

·      Demonstrating efficiency

Hence you should construct your personal list and then locate congruent activities and passions to engage with post-work. That will help to turn any CAD from deficit to surplus.

However, as we have written before, do not confuse busyness with achievement and meaning in retirement. They may coincide or, unfortunately, you may find yourself running around doing things yet failing to meet your deepest sense of meaning.

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