Decoding Retirement 4 steps to rebuild your life after retirement
Sep 9, 2025
Elizabeth Zelinka Parsons, author of "Encore: A High Achiever's Guide to Thriving in Retirement," discusses navigating the often tricky transition into retirement. She illustrates how high achievers can redefine success beyond income, creating a rich and fulfilling 'mosaic life.' Elizabeth also shares why many professionals resist retirement and introduces a transformative four-step roadmap to find identity, restructure life, adopt a new financial mindset, and actively experiment with new possibilities. Her insights offer invaluable guidance for anyone nearing or enjoying retirement.
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Start With Compassion And Identity Work
- Give yourself permission to grieve and accept loss after an unexpected job end.
- Reconnect with enduring parts of your identity by remembering past loves and roles.
Plan Retirement As An Ongoing Project
- Begin thinking early and continually about what you want your life after work to provide.
- Reshape your days to distribute time across family, hobbies, learning, and contribution.
Leisure Needs Productive Tension
- Retirement rarely thrives as nonstop leisure; tension with effort makes leisure satisfying.
- Craft a mosaic of purposeful effort, relationships, and play to sustain energy.
