The Solution: Guided Adventurism
After spending so much of their vital years working hard to meet the demands of career and family, it’s regrettable that many get to the last phase of life feeling bored, resentful, purposeless and filled with regret over paths not taken.
Who needs all that?!? Our purpose at Michael Rose Coaching is to prevent these possibilities from materializing, or to turn the car around if it’s already headed down that highway. How can this be accomplished?
The answer is Guided Adventurism! And in guiding you on your epic adventure for a purposeful yet fun-filled retirement, we have three primary roles: Travel Agent, Wilderness Guide and Accountability Partner. All three are described below.
Before departing to infinity and beyond, you must first have some notion of where you want to go. Thus, our first role is Travel Agent, and our primary task is to uncover what you want this major life pivot and personal reinvention to look and feel like.
Travel Agent
In the role of Travel Agent, we help you assess and discover. Reminding you that your inventory of paths, places and pastimes is boundless, we help you connect to your essential self. Who are you and what do you enjoy doing? Released from the energy drain and time siphon of a traditional job, what brings happiness? What did you love doing when you were a teenager? What has been hidden under a bushel all these years?
If James Taylor was right when he sang “The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time,” it’s important to be clear about what enjoying time means to you now, given your current or impending career emancipation.
With a blank canvas and an unlimited palette before you, how would you paint the picture of your ideal life?
- What does it consist of and what does it exclude?
- What will you teach, what will you learn?
- How will you nourish your soul?
- What relationships will you build and maintain?
- How can you give back in thanks for a life that has treated you well?
Wilderness Guide
Now that the roadmap has been created with the help of the Travel Agent, the next role is Wilderness Guide. Think of Indiana Jones leading his intrepid team through mountain caves and dangerous desert and jungle terrain. It’s one thing to have developed a map or a plan, it’s quite another to follow the map or put the plan into action, especially when the head winds start to blow: doubt, fear, naysayers and your own internal voice telling you that you can’t do this – or worse, wild-eyed mercenaries shooting arrows at you!
In the Wilderness Guide role, we empower you to document and implement the first steps in bringing your plan to life. We show you how to begin following the map – your map. We help you determine what information needs to be gathered and activities to complete, identify timelines and review the results for feasibility and alignment with your stated objectives.
Design professionals suggest that the best-designed projects are those developed collaboratively. So, as you set about designing your preferred post-career life, exploratory participation in various groups (sports, travel, religious, book clubs, intentional men’s group) are encouraged. JUST TRY STUFF!
- What trial balloons need to be floated?
- What specific steps are necessary to gain clarity?
- What additional exercises, assessments and frank discussions will get to core personal truths and allow both spouses to be completely in-step?
Accountability Partner (Benevolent Nag)
The final role is Accountability Partner. For pre-retirees who are still working, it’s far too easy to get caught up in the day-to-day and ignore necessary planning activities, even though those activities are designed to help you live your next chapter in joyful abundance. Having a trusted confidant who provides encouragement, inspiration, support and advice when needed, and who holds you to the commitments you have made to yourself and loved ones can separate success from failure.
Even when no longer working full time, you may avoid the unfamiliar or activities that push you outside your comfort zone. The Accountability Partner gently nudges, reminding you of the power within your own choices, and the joy and zest that will surely arise from dreams realized and desires fulfilled.
Send Us A Message!
The best years of your life may be in front of you. Reach out and share your story with us. Let’s work together to create a Third Act that joyfully expresses all that you are!
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