Introduction
As a Retirement Lifestyle Strategies Coach, I have been writing monthly newsletters/articles for several years on various topics and concepts related to retirement lifestyle planning. My message has been to encourage everyone to begin planning for their retirement 3 to 5 years before it actually happens. In my newsletters, I have touched on a number of areas including disengaging from work, attitudes towards retirement, how this transition affects your relationship with your family and friends, finding purpose in retirement and leaving a legacy to be proud of, to name just a few.
Over the past year, I've received a number of inquiries from prospective clients asking specifically, "What exactly is Retirement Lifestyle Coaching and what does a Retirement Lifestyle Coach actually do?" These inquiries helped me realize that I needed to be more specific about how a person plans their retirement using a thoughtful, focused and conscious approach. Even though this information can be found on my
website, this newsletter/ article will familiarize you with the power and creative process of retirement lifestyle coaching. The following information might help you to decide if retirement lifestyle coaching is for you.
What is coaching? We are all familiar with the concept of coaching as it relates to the world of sports. There are no professional teams or sports activities that would consider going forward without a good coach who is able to take raw talent and turn it into high performance. Talent needs coaches to ensure success.
Life coaching is no different in that regard. People who use life coaches realize that no one can know everything. Having a coach to partner with and help you define your goals makes success more achievable.
Thomas Leonard, one of the main founders of Life Coaching in the early 1990's, , created this profession because he saw the value of having a coach support people in certain areas of their life. From Thomas Leonard's vision grew a number of specialized coach training programs. Although Coaching is a fairly new field, it is catching on quickly in business and personal communities, helping a number of people live happier lives.
A client comes to coaching, usually because there is a gap between where they are in their current lives and where they would like to be. Goals are identified to help the client bridge that gap. Progress is a function of partnership and collaboration between the coach and client as they create the client's personal vision for their future. A coach requires and expects behavior changes and asks the client to be responsible and accountable in following through. In the process of coaching, a coach can help a client to expand their thinking, clarify goals, and help them to hold their vision to achieve their goals. Coaching is present-oriented, forward-moving, challenging yet fun and holds the client accountable for taking the necessary steps toward change. Coaching can be done in a variety of convenient settings, including by phone or in person.
What is Retirement Lifestyle Coaching?Retirement Coaching is a specialized area of life coaching. Richard Johnson, Ph. D, who founded
Retirement Options, was a pioneer in coaching when he had a vision that there would be an unprecedented wave of baby boomers beginning the retirement transition in 2008. He believed that boomers would be discontent with their grandparents and parents retirement to leisure. Dr. Johnson realized that settling into a life of leisure would be unfulfilling for our Boomer generation. He believed that high achieving boomers would be looking for a more reasonable pace of life. To assist boomers in preparing for this transition, he set up a training program for coaches using detailed assessments he developed over the years. One of the assessments, the Retirement Success Profile (RSP) assesses a client's readiness to retire in 15 different areas, only one of which is financial planning. The theory behind the RSP is that to be well prepared for retirement, you need to think about other aspects of this transition besides just financial planning. Retirement Lifestyle Coaching is a process that helps people who are 3 to 5 years from retirement begin thinking and planning for how they want this next stage of their life to look.
You have to be ready to begin the process, and often the
coachability quiz helps people determine whether or not they are ready to work with a coach. Coaching is a process that helps people who are motivated and goal oriented move to the next phase in creating the life they want.
The retirement coaching process
As a Life Coach and Certified Retirement Options Coach, I have the opportunity to use a number of assessments and tools to help pre-retirees assess their readiness for retirement and recareering. Depending on the circumstances and the individual needs of my clients, I use one of the following three
assessment tools:
· The Retirement Success Profile for One-On-One Coaching
· The Life Options Profile for Group Coaching
· The Re-Career Success Inventory for Exploring a Post Retirement Career
Each of these assessments is taken over the Internet with the results available immediately and interpreted with the assistance of a certified coach. Each assessment has a companion book. In addition, these assessment tools are used in conjunction with the following resources that are provided to the client by the coach including:
a. Life Transition Insight and Involvement Exercises to be used by the client.
b. Powerful Questions for goal setting and "the next steps" are asked to deepen the learning and self understanding.
c. Ongoing one-on-one and group coaching in areas where the client needs personal support.
Retirement Lifestyle Coaching helps clients explore when they will retire, how they will replace their work with other fulfilling and meaningful activities, whether they will each stay in place, move to another home or have two homes and creating a more positive attitude about this life transition. Clients learn that there is life after work and work after retirement. If they decide to work, it's important to find a career that is fulfilling and fun. The process is enlightening, creative and fun.
People who go through this process will reap the wonderful
benefits of coaching. They will create a lifestyle vision customized for them individually and as a couple. As my tagline says, Retirement Lifestyle Strategies is "Making the Best of Your Life for the Rest of Your Life."
