Keen On Retirement

But sustaining that can-do attitude can be really challenging once we settle back into our daily routines. Study after study has shown that most New Year’s resolutions fail in a matter of weeks. That can lead to feelings of defeat and even depression before the year has even begun.

But you can’t talk about the holidays without acknowledging that it can be stressful having so much family under one roof! Once you’re done catching up, playing with the little ones, eating, and opening gifts, it’s inevitable that conversation will drift to some topics that folks have very strong and very different opinions about.

Believe me, I understand that your checklist for the month of December is probably spilling onto another page already. And it’s not much fun to sit around the fire and think about filing taxes in April. But there’s less than two weeks left to consider some moves that could have a major impact on how you wrap up 2019 and progress into 2020.

Many people who are winding down their careers look forward to spending time at home in their retirement. They relish the thought of afternoons on the porch or woodworking in the garage. And with people living longer thanks to medical advances, aging in place has become more widespread.

After a successful career in which he worked to improve competitive balance in the financial markets, Joe had earned the potential for an easy, carefree retirement. But his values, his faith, and his commitment to helping others wouldn’t let him go dormant. Today, I consider Joe to be one of the leading humanitarians and philanthropists here in Kansas City. Joe is an inspiration to me, and to anyone looking for a way to make the second half of their life potentially more meaningful and fulfilling than the first.

Each morning, as a part of my daily routine, I do a gratitude exercise where I call to mind a minimum of 10 things that I am grateful for.