Life after retirement
How to enjoy life after retirement: four pillars that work
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To enjoy life after retirement, build your days around your values, meaningful pursuits, learning, and physical activity, rather than errands and appointments.
These are the four pillars of Rarified Life's Preferment approach. The back cover of Anne van Leynseele's book puts the goal simply: learn "the difference between filling hours and fulfilling hours." Below is each pillar with one small action you can take this week.
Part of the guide to Rarified Life's life after retirement course and retirement coaching.
What should I do to enjoy life after retirement?
Pick one action in each of the four pillars, put it on your calendar, and tell someone who will ask how it went. That last step matters: accountability is a full module in the Preferment course because plans without structure tend to fade.
Personal values
Start with what you care about, not what fills the calendar. Write down three values and check each week whether your time reflected them.
This week: list three values and one activity that expresses each.
Meaningful pursuits
Choose pursuits that matter to you and to others. Anne van Leynseele's own next chapter includes co-owning a chocolate farm on the Big Island of Hawaii.
This week: name one project you would be proud to describe to a friend.
Learning
Keep stretching your mind with new skills, subjects, and places. Anne's guide Brain Boost Blueprint focuses on staying sharp, engaged, and energized after retirement.
This week: sign up for one class, book, or skill you have never tried.
Physical activity
Energy and health underpin everything else. Anne's guide Your Vibrant Years is a simple wellness blueprint for healthy, active living after 60.
This week: schedule movement three times, like any other appointment.
Why does life after retirement feel flat for some people?
Often because the days fill with tasks instead of purpose. Rarified Life's presentation describes the aim as moving "from filling your days with errands and appointments to a life people ask you about," while energy, health, and close relationships grow stronger.
If you want help turning the four pillars into a plan, the Preferment live course covers them across eight weeks with Anne.
Keep reading
- How long does it take to adjust to retirement?Adjustment timelines, the five emotional stages of retirement, and retirement transition coaching.
- Retirement coaching built on the Preferment frameworkWhat a retirement coach does, how Rarified Life coaches, and who Anne van Leynseele is.
- The six Preferment modulesThe six modules of the Preferment course: Introduction, Identity, Motivation, Alignment, Accountability, Launch.
Questions about enjoying retirement
More answers on the retirement coaching and course FAQ.
- How can I enjoy life after retirement?
- Build your days on things that matter to you rather than errands and appointments. Rarified Life's Preferment approach rests on four pillars: personal values, meaningful pursuits, learning, and physical activity. Pick one small action in each, schedule it, and tell someone who will ask how it went.See this answer in the full FAQ
- What should I do with my time after I retire?
- Match your time to your values and strengths, not just to what is available. That is the focus of the Alignment module in the Preferment course. The book frames the goal as the difference between filling hours and fulfilling hours.See this answer in the full FAQ
- How do I stay physically and mentally active after retirement?
- Learning and physical activity are two of the four pillars of Rarified Life's approach. Anne van Leynseele has also written guides shown on rarifiedlife.com, including Your Vibrant Years, a wellness blueprint for active living after 60, and Brain Boost Blueprint, on staying sharp and engaged after retirement.See this answer in the full FAQ
- How is Preferment different from conventional retirement?
- Conventional retirement treats the end of a career as an ending. Preferment treats it as an ascension, built on personal values, meaningful pursuits, learning, and physical activity. The back cover of the book Preferment frames it as the difference between "filling hours and fulfilling hours."See this answer in the full FAQ
- What does Preferment mean?
- Preferment is Rarified Life's name for its alternative to conventional retirement. The course page describes treating this stage "like an ascension" instead of an ending. Rarified Life presents the framework as research-backed and built on personal values, meaningful pursuits, learning, and physical activity.See this answer in the full FAQ