Recently, I was at group lunch with 20 colleagues from Raytheon. Fifteen fellow retirees were relaxed with smiling faces. The 5 who were still working had frown lines and green eyes – green with envy.
We, the retirees, were talking about adjusting to life as a retiree. Some of us adjusted quickly, others not so much. We all had different lives as retirees.
One enjoyed the peace and quiet of his house, until his spouse came home <as I was proofreading this, it seems bad, but I swear he didn’t mean it that way … just saying 😉 >. He also travelled some. Another is working off his honey-do list of home improvement projects. And another ramped up her passion – UCLA football. While working, losing a day for each and every UCLA home game was impractical (you can’t attend a college football game without tailgating, can you?). Now she has season tickets.
People who follow me on Facebook commented on how “busy” I was. But I explained, “it’s not like I’m work busy — I am busy living my dream.”
In my retirement, I am a part of several tribes:
Toastmasters
Darren LaCroix’s World Champions’ EDGE
Get Paid To Speak Group
Patricia Fripp’s Virtual Training
Craig Duswalt’s RockStar MasterMind
RockStar Worldwide Radio Network
Maurice DiMino’s Master Class
Casey Eberhart’s Platinum Inner Circle
Groundlings Improv & Sketch Comedy School
Melissa Skoff Acting Class
PRPR (promoting my magazine articles)
The people in these tribes have a different view of the pace of my activity:
Many Toastmasters ask me “why are you repeating the basic manual and not working the advanced Manuals?” “Why aren’t you an area governor?” “Why don’t you want to be a DTM (Distinguished Toastmaster, the highest educational award?”
My answer is, “No, I don’t want to be a DTM. It’s not my dream (may Dr. Ralph C. Smedley, the Founder of Toastmasters, strike me dead.”
Some of the questions I hear in the other tribes are:
Why aren’t you chasing paid speaking opportunities more?
Why aren’t you accessing Fripp-VT training enough? (Patricia personally reminds me of my level of inactivity)
Why aren’t you growing your list or you business fast enough?
Why aren’t you seeking acting jobs?
Why don’t you blog more?
Why, why, why?
I feel like I am both the busiest retiree on the planet … and a slacker!
My priorities are:
- My Health
- My Relationship
- My Retirement Portfolio
- My Radio Show
- And then Speaking, Improv, Acting, Stand-up, Blogging, Writing (Magazine Articles and Books), Coaching (Retirees, Speakers and Comedians) and Toastmasters
What I work on in the last group depends on commitments I’ve made and how I feel.
I don’t judge my fellow retirees. They own their dream and the pace at which they choose to follow it.
I don’t judge my fellow speakers. They own their dream and the pace at which they choose to follow it.
I don’t judge my fellow performers. They own their dream and the pace at which they choose to follow it.
I don’t judge my fellow writers. They own their dream and the pace at which they choose to follow it.
We were all living our dreams.
You choose your dream and you choose your pace. You get results based on your choices.
Let me repeat that.
You choose your dream and you choose your pace. You get results based on your choices.
Your family, your friends, your peers and your coaches may support you and advise you … or they may not.
But you and only you OWN YOUR DREAM!
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Walt Grassl hosts the weekly radio show “Stand Up and Speak Up” on the RockStar Worldwide Network, Thursdays at 11am Pacific. Listen Live or to the podcast later.
