subject: Current Life Satisfaction [print this page] To ensure you retire successfully you should foucs on your Current Life Satisfaction. The Retirement Success Profile (RSP) defines your Current Life Satisfaction as "The degree to which you believe you have achieved contentment and peace at this point in your life."
Are you happy and/or satisfied at this point in your life?
I have joined forces with Pat Mussieux, Steps2Happiness.com, to conduct a teleseminar. We discussed the 7 steps to a happy retirement, giving you 8 mistakes to avoid when you enter this stage in life. Life satisfaction is another way of saying "happiness". This measures your perceived happiness in general. You may desire high levels of happiness in retirement as compared to others, or you may naturally be currently happier than the "norm". Since we all create our own happiness, regardless of the outside circumstances of our lives, current happiness is a good way to gauge how happy a person will be in their retirement years. Happiness is an inner game.
Happiness allows you to experience a sense of power, fulfilment, pleasure, contentment, and a sense of your personal uniqueness in each of these life arenas. People who are internally happy seek change in their lives, have high self-confidence, and believe their happiness level today is a good measure of tomorrow.
A healthy resolution requires a genuine appreciation that life is good for you. Three steps you can take right now to increase your happiness are:
1. Listen deeply to your genuine self.
2. Become more sensitive to the power of life.
3. Awaken to life's grace.
In order to guarantee retirement success, you need a high degree of satisfaction and a significant sense of achievement with your current lifestyle. Although life satisfaction is a private matter, it assesses how you are doing right now. When you manage your life well to this point bringing you satisfaction, you will continue to do this as you approach your retirement transition, giving you confidence as you face your future. Obtaining a high life satisfaction gives you the option to retire now, later, or not at all. It's important to be happy, content and satisfied with life, so putting up with disharmony for any length of time can diminish life satisfaction. You must be ready, willing and able to put energy and time into all areas of life to achieve a balance between them.
Some people have difficulty connecting their feelings with their conscious thoughts and then being able to translate it all into actions that are in their own best interests. Knowing if they are happy or satisfied or content becomes difficult questions. The result is often inactivity or the repetition of life patterns that may not be productive or even appropriate.
Looking forward to personal success, achievement, contentment and peace in future years signal your future life satisfaction. Anticipating your retirement lifestyle as an acceptable alternative to working gives you the sense that something good is about to happen. It can be a time of fulfillment, security, maybe even peace. Well formed plans of projects and activities that you have wanted to devote more time and energy are achieved at this time. A positive attitude about the future spills over into your attitude today. Take a look at your attitude today, and think about what it may tell you about your future. Your attitude can be a strength as you approach the next career or transition in your life. Hope is the anticipation, even the expectation that good things will be unfolding in your life. It allows you to be optimistic, cheerful, and positive.
What do you project will give you happiness in the future?
Your Assignment:
The answers to some of the following lifestyle statements can give you a quick view of whether or not you are happy with your current life. Take a few minutes now to determine your degree of happiness by considering the following aspects: are you satisfied with your job; does your family usually accept and support your wishes; are you satisfied with the way that your spouse (or significant other) and you relate and communicate; are you pleased with your life thus far; is your relationship with God (Source, the Universe, a higher power) very good; are your leisure pursuits important; if you had to do it all over again, would you choose the same job or career you have now?
These are just a few of the questions we work through together to help you ensure you figure out what your retirement will look like. You definitely DON'T want to leave it to chance! Contact me for a 30-minute 'Get Acquainted Session' to see if there are ways I can help you. Simply email me at Tracey@NewFaceOfRetirement.com with "Get Acquainted" in the subject line, and we'll set up a time to chat.
This information is based on the original work created by Richard P. Johnson, Ph.D. in his book The New Retirement and the training certification through the Retirement Success Profile (RSP).
