Improve Your Retirement Outlook

I have no idea how anyone can be anything but happy in retirement.  Some people have a way of looking at the dark side of everything.  The fact is that you can improve your retirement outlook by changing just a few things in your life and it can make all the difference in the world.  So much so that you may even get comments about it.  A different perspective can change your outlook and the way you view the world for the better.  As the great Zig Ziglar said, there’s a big difference between telling a lady that she looks like the first day of spring rather than the last day of a long hard winter.  Mr. Ziglar was one of my first self-help mentors and his motivational talks are worth looking up on You Tube. He died in 2012 and although you might say his words and videos are dated and old fashioned, the advice he gave in his books and speaking engagements are still words to live by for me.

You can improve your retirement outlook by improving your mind.  Clearly this idea applies not only to retirement but to any stage in your life.  I came across the self-help industry when I was about forty years old and struggling to stay at a job that I didn’t like at all.  The pressures to manage a group of people to reach goals that seemed designed to set us up for failure were really starting to get to me and I wasn’t sure how much longer I could take of this corporate environment that seemed oblivious to the realities of marketplace trends.  I had to do something and went on a search to find a way to improve my outlook.  Self-help had become something of an industry and people like Norman Vincent Peale and Napoleon Hill were my first teachers on a path that changed how I looked at life.  They helped me not only survive but prosper in an environment that thrived on focusing on what people are doing wrong rather than building on what they were doing right.  Those changes made a difference and when I see retired people who do nothing but complain, I always think of these authors and speakers who made a difference for me.  You can improve your retirement outlook by improving your mind and the way you look at the world.

Being Grateful Will Improve Your Retirement Outlook

You can start by being grateful for everything you have.  Anyone living in this country is wealthy compared to a majority of the world’s inhabitants.  Only occasionally are we reminded of the abundance of resources that we have, and those reminders come when there is the occasional shortage resulting from a blackout, contaminated water source, high prices for our food or a pandemic.  The truth is that we have much to be grateful for.  You can improve your retirement outlook by being grateful for getting to retirement age in the first place!  We are very fortunate to be able to enjoy the fruits of our labor.  We worked decades to get to this point in life so we should become determined to enjoy it as much as possible and focus on the positives.  Perhaps we can’t go to the far-off places we dreamed about because of money or health problems, but we can fully enjoy and appreciate what’s in our own backyard.

You can improve your retirement outlook by taking steady measures in improving yourself and the best place to start is with your mind.  Your thoughts control your world.  So many people don’t do enough research into how their mind works and why we think the way we do.  It can be the education of a lifetime.  But there’s a difference between reading the words and putting them into practice.  And if you think that retirement age is too late to do anything about these conditions in your life, you can start by changing that erroneous thought.  It’s never too late to improve your mind and your life unless it’s caused by an irreversible illness or disease.  But, even then, there are ways to make improvements and the effort to make those changes will have a positive effect on your outlook.  Your conversation reflects what you are focused on and, when you concentrate on making improvements, your outlook becomes more positive.

Find a way to tap your creative side.  The satisfaction you get by creating something new will improve your retirement outlook and those changes will be noticeable.  If you don’t have a hobby, start one.  If you struggle with money, take a proactive approach to solving those problems.  You can improve your retirement outlook by taking action and an outside interest is a great place to start.  Think of something nice you can do for someone else and do it.  Helping others is the best way to help yourself.  Don’t ever underestimate the impact one act of kindness can have.  If you’re prone to negative thoughts, start a journal and get it all down on paper or seek professional counseling.  Talking or writing about problems is a great way to make them more manageable.  Take action to address the problems you see in the world no matter how small.  A friend of ours will always speak out if she hears foul language or sees rude behavior at our community pool.  She politely tells the offenders that it’s not welcome in her presence and she rarely gets push-back.  It’s almost always an apology.  People have become a little afraid to insist on a more positive tone in our public discourse but always do it in a positive way.  You may even end up writing a book or starting a website like those original self-help teachers did and are still doing today.

Look for ways to improve your retirement outlook and your whole world will change.  Retirement should be the most wonderful time of our lives.  Don’t let those negative thoughts creep in.  Go out and change YOUR world.  It’s time to Enjoy Retired Life!

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