For most people, the thought of retirement conjures up easy-going images of freedom, financial independence, and happiness. It is a time in which you can set your own schedule and focus on a project that you just love, without any restriction. But what if you could live a “retirement mindset” right now? Regardless of your age. Without retiring at all.
Whether you’re just beginning your start-up journey or have an established company, by building in this retirement mindset you can exponentially improve your business success, quality of life, and financial growth. This can also bring back the passion for your work and help you gain clarity when a new client, investor, partner, or employee comes along for the ride.
It all begins with a mindset shift
We all want our business to succeed and flourish, and often we are so keenly focused on starting or growing it that we become overrun by the creature we’ve created. We forget to appreciate why we started this venture in the first place, and that it was designed to bring both business and personal satisfaction. If you’re doing it right, then you love what you do. But if you don’t love it right now, then not to worry, we can fix that!
Things can only change when you begin to build a retirement mindset into your company ethos and create a lifestyle connected to your business goals. After all, work should afford you happiness, not take it away. By incorporating your key goals into your day-to-day thinking, you can begin a complete inner transformation and embody a retirement mindset, even when you are still on the job. To begin this transformation, here are 6 tips to get you started.
6 Tips to Bring A Retirement Mindset to Your Business Life
1. Define successful retirement… for you
To start bringing the retirement mindset into your life, you must first define what retirement represents, for you. Every person has a different vision for an ideal retirement. Take some time to determine what is appealing about retirement, visualize a perfect day, and think about the qualities this vision holds. Here are some questions you can ask yourself as you pull together an image of retirement mindset bliss:
Do you see yourself taking half-days off or paddleboarding in the mornings? Removing toxic partners from your day-to-day? Fewer and more lucrative contracts that excite you? Working unconventional hours? Having uninterrupted time to devote to a project? The ability to decide who you work with — including clients?
This key step should be fun, inspiring, and fill you with a sense of excitement as you begin to create a company culture that serves both your business and personal needs. Once you have defined this vision, you can start putting it into action.
2. Enhance the happy; part ways with toxicity
More than anything, retirement conjures images of happiness. No matter what stage your business is in, you should make happiness a top priority.
Seem silly? It’s not. It’s a fact that positive, “happy” emotions enhance work efficiency, productivity, and creativity. We all have a limited time on this Earth, and we should use our time wisely. Think about your current role in the business and adjust as necessary to focus on the functions and tasks that bring you joy. It’s your business. Enjoy it! And just watch how this “happiness” inspires both your internal teams and clients alike.
Simultaneously, work to remove tasks that you don’t like, as well as remove the people or clients who are toxic. Letting go of things that no longer serve you will give greater space for new opportunities, positivity, and growth.
3. Embracing your values and goals
A retirement mindset focuses on consciously making choices and taking actions that are in line with your values and goals. In this context, beyond making a revenue plan for your company, you must also form a lifestyle plan. The key to this process is to focus on your values. Some Examples?
Value your priorities, value situations that allow you to do your best work, value clients who appreciate your skills, and value your teams who take pride in their craft.
Write out your values and goals and put them in a place you can easily see, so when you’re making decisions you can remind yourself to align your choices with these core beliefs.
4. Create a world that flows easily
Retirement life is all about the flow. Try to create this flow as much as possible, focusing on the effortlessness that retirement represents.
As you make decisions, whether big or small, try to make them with a smile. When you begin to bring more positivity and a carefree attitude to your work, everyone else will feel it as well and appreciate the easy-going, ego-less world that you’re manifesting. Simple, right? Amazing what this trick can do for client relations and morale.
5. Make tiny moves, everyday
Making decisions confidently, without fear, is a trademark of the retirement mindset. At the end of the day, you are the one in the driver’s seat of your business life, so it is up to you to steer it in the right direction.
Be conscious about your decisions and make at least one choice today that puts a smile on your face and moves the needle toward your newly redefined values and goals. Although the path to your retirement mindset may seem far from your reality right now, commit to making tiny moves, each day, that drive you toward these goals.
6. Celebrate the victories
It’s not all or nothing. A retirement mindset is composed of many individual parts and it’s unlikely to happen for you all at once.
On your path forward, as you achieve victories both big and small (Revamped the corporate structure so you can work out every morning? Dumped some toxic clients? Signed a new contract with better terms?) celebrate them! Yes, you may still have a ways to go, but take a moment to realize that you are making positive changes and moving closer to a better, more successful business life.
In Summary
By consciously adapting and valuing your business life and the lives of those working with you, you can start tapping into that carefree, retirement mindset you’ve been dreaming of while you’re still working.
Just sitting down and thinking things through doesn’t create change; write down your values and goals, put them where you can see them, and allow them to influence all of your business decisions moving forward. Each and every day.
Want to bring the retirement mindset to your workplace or more in-depth consulting? Harry is an award-winning TV producer, entrepreneur, and speaker who inspires people to think creatively about business and live a more successful, carefree existence.