August 19, 2011
Dear Everyone:
Yesterday I finished a four-day “Webinar” on
Retirement.
For those of you just returning from Intergalactic
Travel, a “Webinar” is a seminar that you take via the “Web” aka the
Internet. You log into a
website and watch the
PowerPoint presentation while the Instructor talks
on a phone bridge that you dial into.
It’s the same technology that I used to use when I did “virtual”
training at work. Back
before I “retired”.
The Transition Company has put a lot of “thought”
into Retirement and divided it up into ten segments they call “Factors”;
no doubt based on numerous self-help books and multiple sessions of
“psychobabble”. Which is why
it takes over four days to cover.
Each day consists of an hour or so of “insights”
about each “factor”, followed by “homework” assignments.
The biggest assignment is what they call the “Retirement Success
Profile”, which consists of logging into the Transition Company’s
website and considering a large number of “statements” about yourself
and how much you “agree” or “disagree” with them.
Then the computer compares your answers with
thousands of other people who answered the same silly thing and comes up
with your “Retirement Success
Profile”. Divided (again!)
into “Strength Factors”, “Mid-Range Factors” and “Focus Factors”.
The Instructor loved to talk about “Focus Factors”.
These are the ones you need to work on the most.
(The beauty of a “Webinar” is if you get up and
leave the room no one knows about it.
Ditto if you fall down laughing, as long as you remember to mute
your phone.)
The whole thing started me thinking about
Life-In-General and Retirement-In-Particular and my mind took a
“Twilight Zone” turn. I
realized that if you think of “Life” as a “Train Ride”, then
“Retirement” makes a good “train depot”.
But if you get off the “train” at “retirement”, you’re going to
miss the rest of the ride.
No doubt there are many people who think, “All I have to do is get to
Retirement. Then I can relax
and forget about everything.”
And when they do, they wonder what happened.
This lead me to the conclusion:
“Retirement is not a Destination; it is a
Milestone, a
gateway to
the next phase in your life.”
(For heaven’s sake, don’t get off the train!)
I shared this with the rest of the “class” on the
second day. The Instructor
loved it and repeated it throughout the rest of the sessions.
I don’t expect to see any royalties.
I do plan to go back again before my time runs out
with the Transition Company and take the “Retirement Success Profile” at
least one more time.
Admittedly, when I originally took it, I was looking at “retirement” as
something that happened to me, rather than as something I can use as I
see fit. It will be
interesting to see if any of the “factors” fall out differently.
And, of course, there’s still the all-important
Resume. I’ll start on that
next week. And remember,
don’t get off the train!
Love, as always,
Pete
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