Are you facing a transition in your life? If yes, you might be interested in a new book I’ve just finished by a fellow blogger named Patricia West Doyle. Pat is the author of Retirement Transition—An Innovation Approach. And even though I’m not yet retired, I still found a few ideas in it that could prove valuable to others—especially those of us facing a transition. Of course, when you think about it transitions happen repeatedly to all of us over the course of our lives. So why not prepare before we’re in the middle of one?
First off, I never even knew there was such a thing as “An Innovation Approach” to anything. Yet, according to the author, this process is well-known in the business world. In fact, Pat used this strategy during her many years of working in corporate development. What is it? Simply put, it is finding and then utilizing the best processes available for forward momentum and change. When Pat decided to leave the working world a bit earlier than necessary, she realized that she needed some sort of forward focus to help make the change of her transition go smoothly. That’s where “An Innovation Approach” fit into her plan.
Make no mistake, Pat is a planner and her approach to retirement fits that description well. As she says, “Post-work life did not just happen. I had to ‘do the work’ to create a new life plan…” I also appreciated her honesty by admitting that a plan was critical for her, “…because I was an expert on how to work, but I wasn’t very sure about how to live a life.” I wonder how many other people find themselves adrift like that after a long and productive work life? I’d bet that this book would be especially valuable to anyone in in a similar position.
In addition, in true SMART Living fashion Pat goes on to say, “I had to learn that it’s less about what I want to do (having a plethora of activities booked) and more about who I want to be (understanding what’s truly important to me).” And for her, the best way seemed to be to begin visioning, planning, refining her vision and self-discovery. Of course, from my perspective, those actions would be helpful to us all at every stage of life. Fortunately, Pat doesn’t just offer that and leave us there, she then breaks down those steps and walks us through them.
If you are a planner like I am, then you’ll probably be familiar with many of the other terms and even the processes she recommends in this book. Additionally, she suggests quite a few exercises to do as you read along. Of course, if you’re also like me you might skip on ahead without doing them. Even then, I managed to take good notes and found a couple of nuggets that I want to remember.
Of particular is an action step called “Jolts of Joy”. The idea is to “identify the little things in your life that bring you joy.” Everything from what makes you laugh out loud consistently to things that bring a smile to your face or “warmth” to your heart. For example, one for me is watching my dog Kloe run free on the beach. Just watching her happy face makes me laugh. Pat recommends that we make a long list of items that we could call our personal Jolts of Joy, and then incorporate them as much as possible in every single day.
Like me, Pat is convinced that we all have the ability to create “happiness by design.” How do we do that? According to Pat, happiness theory suggests that there are actually three levels to happiness. The first level is the most sensual and comes from doing activities that stimulate pleasure, fun or enjoyment in our lives. The second level of happiness comes from utilizing our strengths, skills, or talents for our self, or others. The final level is when our actions or activities engage with our core values and help us to feel part of something bigger than ourselves alone. When our actions blend those three levels we achieve maximum happiness. Who doesn’t want that? Of course, in order to do that we have to KNOW what it is that brings us joy, what our skills (talents) are, and most especially what are our core values. Self-discovery is a key.
I’ve written about values and know several of them, but something about the way Pat presented them really helped me get clear about one I had never recognized before. That core value, for me, is achievement.
At first I overlooked it. She lumped that value together with winning, promotion, ambition, competition, etc. And because I don’t consider myself competitive, I barely glanced at that category. Then Pat took it further by listing a series of “Value statements” and then tying those statements with each corresponding value. When I saw the statement, “I like the feeling of accomplishment when I finish a task or a project,” it hit me. Like a bolt of lightning it was instantly clear to me that much of my motivation in life is taking on projects, and then seeing them through to completion.
It shouldn’t have been a mystery because when I look back and attempt to explain why this blog or my books are important to me—there it is. I get great satisfaction out of staying on schedule with my blog, finishing my books, and keeping up with my commitments (even if they are just for myself.) Don’t believe me? Just read my previous blog post, “Why Good Enough & Done Is Better Than Perfect.” And although I do like it when people tell me my work is helpful or interesting, the more important element is always the sense of completion I get once I’ve “achieved” my goal.
It’s funny how one simple idea like that can stick with you for days. Ever since realizing how important achievement is to me, I have gone back and noticed how many times in my life that particular motivation has guided me. Just knowing that, I feel I am better prepared to create “happiness by design” in my future. Pat’s list (and corresponding statements) just might be what you need to find some of your core values—and prepare for your future.
Pat includes quite a few more exercises, lists and suggestions in this small book. It really doesn’t take that long to read and I am sure it would be helpful for anyone who is interested in #1 Learning more about themselves and, #2 Discovering tools to help them move ahead in the future. I would have preferred a few more personal stories to fill out the examples because it does get a bit technical and linear. But as I’ve said before, one GOOD idea from a book is worth the cover price. As usual, the SMART approach is to be constantly on the lookout for ways to improve the quality of our lives—before, during, or in retirement.
Hi Kathy and Pat. Understanding the importance of life transitions was definitively important to me as I prepared for retirement a few years ago. It helped me to make sense of this next new phase in my life. Kathy, like you, achievement is a really important value for me. Most of my schooling and work life choices were driven by this value. Now in retirement, one of my challenges is to balance achievement with some of my other deeply held values, like family and creativity, for example.
Jude
After reading your post a few weeks ago, I ordered Pat’s book. Thank goodness! I’m only on Chapter 4, but it’s so helpful and calming me down thinking about the how and what of retiring. So pleased with the book!
Hi Beth! So glad to hear you are benefiting from the book. It is very SMART to do your best to figure out many of those elements before you find yourself in the middle of it! Thanks for letting me/us know! ~Kathy
Hi Kathy, Your title immediately reminds me how the only constant is change. Preparation helps with the uncertainty of change, a transition. My aha moment was reading how it is more important to learn about “who I want to be” versus “what I want to do.” Well said! A benefit being over 50 (more like 60:) is I am at a consistently happier stage in my life despite the challenges most of us inevitably face. I know by now my philosophy in life, my values and what brings me joy. Always great to read about a new book, Kathy:)
So relevant Kathy as I near the closing of my business and my retirement! I bought a plant stand that just makes me laugh. I am all about finding joy and enjoying it anywhere and everywhere!
Hi Haralee! And isn’t that idea of finding Jolts of Joy and then including them in our lives daily so important? It’s very easy (these days particularly so it seems) to get sucked into the drama or the news of the day and end up feeling rather battered! Those Jolts of Joy can really turn things around. And glad to see you back in the blogsphere. I’ve missed you! ~Kathy
Hi Kathy,
I’m about halfway through Pat’s book and am in agreement with your review…I particularly like the worksheets that help you examine your thoughts and priorities through this transition.
I hope to finish soon and include a review of my own!
Hi Nancy! I would enjoy hearing your perspective on the book too. She does do a very thorough job of different exercises doesn’t she? Are you better than me at actually doing them? 🙂 Let me know when you do your review! ~Kathy
What a thorough review. I have had Pat’s book on my Amazon wish list for awhile. Might be time to gift it to myself. Will check out your post “Why Good Enough & Done Is Better Than Perfect.” I am all about trying to do everything perfectly which, we all know is impossible, and also prohibits me from doing much of anything for fear of ‘messing’ things up. I make daily to-do lists because I love the feeling of checking off things I’ve completed. That feeling of completion is addictive.
Hi Leslie! Glad you found my review thought-provoking. I LOVE to do that. And I’m not sure if the satisfaction from completion is the same as the value of achievement. Pat, if you’re still reading comments would comment on that? As I replied to Laura’s comment, Thom likes to get things taken care of and out of his way (completion) but he doesn’t seem to take things on the same way so he can “achieve” them. To me there is a bit of a difference to that. Does that make sense to you. Maybe it’s the difference between “fixing things” or “creating” things??? Hmmm…that might be the key. And the advantage of “creating” things is that they don’t have to be perfect to create…but when you fix thing you likely then want them perfect? Not sure if that makes any difference to you but I think when we are attempting to discover our motivations, the more information available. Thanks for your thoughts on this and for triggering more of my own. ~Kathy
Kathy, I’ve been thinking about achievement versus completion all day… and added in engagement versus mastery to the mix. I do think a sense of completion can be achievement. Completing a project. Completing the next step in the journey. Especially if those tasks, steps, activities are linked to your vision. For me, I want to be active. So when I “complete a yoga class”, I do feel a sense of accomplishment. I’m not mastering the skill (although I am getting a bit better over time as I increase strength). I’m not creating anything. But I am moving myself closer to the vision of how I want to live. I’m not sure I have accomplishment as a strong value, but I did feel the loss of accomplishment when I stopped working. Perhaps someone who has accomplishment as a stronger value would need “bigger ” tasks/ projects/ creations to fulfill their own sense of accomplishment. Pat
Hi Pat! For me I think accomplishment feels equivalent to achievement, but I still don’t think that is the same as completion. While they CAN BE the same, they aren’t always. Sure I can complete doing the dishes but blah…that doesn’t up my feeling of achievement is finishing something that has personal value to me (and accomplishment would be the same). It doesn’t have to be BIG, but it does have to have value and importance to me personally. ~Kathy
Kathy – Thanks so much for the review of my book! You brought a smile to my face today!
Hi Pat! Glad you liked it…and thanks for the great ideas. ~Kathy
Hi, Kathy – Great review! It’s incredible how much more there truly is to learn about ourselves. I agree that Pat’s book is an excellent resource in offering tools to help those in transition move ahead in the future. I like your example of how her work helped you to better understand how you value achievement.
Hi Donna! Thanks. One thing I really appreciated about Pat’s book was her candor about how challenging retirement was for her (in the beginning at least!) I’ll bet a LOT of people in that same sore of structured corporate world face similar apprehension but keep it bottled up inside and don’t know what to do about it. While I suspect that Pat’s planning skills put mine to shame, I can see where she turned that around to do something positive for herself and others like her. Isn’t it great that there is information like this out for those it can help? ~Kathy
I got her book on my kindle. I like her “How-to Cool Tools” … and her message that while some people know what their “passion” is, many of us struggle to figure out “what we always wanted to do.” And that’s okay, she says. We don’t have to have a singular passion to start a rock band or save the animals or sail the South Pacific. We just have to live life according to our values, use our skills and talents, and hopefully leave the world (meaning, for most of us, our friends and family) a little better place for our having been here.
Hi Tom! Yes, Pat does have a nice way of putting things and her “How-to Cool Tools” is a cute idea. And I’ll bet nearly all of us facing or in retirement has questions about our purpose (and or passion) so the more we can read and study on that, IMHO, the better. Isn’t it nice to know that most of that is answered by just knowing “to live life according to our values, use our skills and talents, and hopefully leave the world (meaning, for most of us, our friends and family) a little better place for our having been here” ? ~Kathy
I just read several posts from people who felt lost in their “retirement.” So thank you, Kathy for your post and your review. I work with the over 50 population, so I’ll be taking a look at “Retirement Transition – An Innovation Approach.” It sounds as though it could be a good fit for many folks, especially those who like to get information and guidance in a book.
Hi Jane! I agree that Pat’s book could easily be a “workshop” for anyone over 50. Even the way the chapters are designed and their corresponding exercises. I’ll have to ask Pat if she’s ever considered a webinar to share the ideas. I don’t know about you but I tend to be much better at following the exercises when there is accountability. ~Kathy
Kathy & Jane, I have not considered a webinar yet, but I have done a 3-series IRL workshop… and am doing an IRL seminar next month as well. So, if there is interest, I am certainly open to ideas! Pat
Hi Kathy! Nice review of Pat’s book! I think her book would be very valuable for those who are transitioning to retirement and worry that they don’t have the tools to fully embrace their new phase of life. I never had any doubt that I would thrive post-work, but I can see how her “innovation approach” might come in handy as my retirement goes forward. Afterall, just like we change and evolve during our younger life passages, retirement isn’t a single “thing.” It is a time of our life that will (hopefully) contain many experiences, interests, and levels of physical abilities.
Hi Janis! Thanks…and I agree that for a person who comes from Pat’s background. I’m pretty sure she says in the book that she was a workaholic and no doubt excelled at her job so her approach would DEFINITELY help people like that. And like you say, hopefully we all continue to grow and evolve so as our retirement unfolds it is possible that many of her exercises will come in handy too. Like I mentioned, her “jolts of joy” is a keeper idea. ~Kathy
Though I’m not retired either, I’m also working on being instead of doing, like Leanne. Or rather, learning to understand why productivity is so important to me, what stories I’ve attached to it, whether my idea of what is productive is healthy, evaluating what level of being vs. doing best supports my optimum health, etc. It’s an interesting exploration, to say the least. There are all kinds of cultural norms that require interrogation. It feels almost rebellious!
Hi Laura! I agree with you (and Leanne) that being is a VERY important element to a happy life (before or after retirement!) And I also agree that productivity just to be “productive” can be problematic. For me I think the idea of achievement being one of my core values put a positive spin on the idea because it made me reflect on how I love projects (blogging, travel, etc.) and the deep satisfaction they bring me. Like I said, I’m not much of a perfectionist so I don’t let that make me crazy as it could if you aren’t careful. Instead, I just love to jump in and see where it takes me. I also realized that “achievement” is more of a value to me than my husband Thom. While he does like to tuck things away and be finished with them, I can tell I get a higher degree of happiness from them. Perhaps that sense of “being” is possible when we are mindful enough to just notice and be satisfied and content with the present moment and who we are right then and there? That awareness could be the biggest difference between doing and being. What do you think? ~Kathy
Hi Kathy – Pat has been such an inspiration to me in the way she pulls ideas apart and digs down to what’s really important to her. She’s been a great encouragement to me as I’ve gradually morphed into accepting that I might be retired now and not just “gainfully unemployed”!
I’m particularly working on the idea of “being” rather than “doing” as my approach to this next stage of life – I don’t want a bucket list to tick off to prove I’m productive, I just want to settle into this new shape of life and see where it takes me. Retirement is quite a challenge!
Hi Leanne! Isn’t it great in this day and age how we can all learn from each other…no matter where in the world we live? I doubt I would have ever met Pat on her blog or read her book without the internet linking us with common interests. She certainly has a helpful “tool chest” to draw on that can help anyone facing (or in) retirement so thanks for letting me/us know that she’s has been a help to you too. I agree that retirement can be a challenge–especially if you haven’t found the right resources to help you through. Pat’s book just might be the key for some. ~Kathy