Takeaways and Items to Follow from this blog:

 

  1. Leaders are good planners so they are usually good at repurposing.
  2. Repurposing, not Retirement, is the new norm at age 55.
  3. Repurposing at age 55 or Hole of Life # 12 (see my book 5 AT A TIME for the definition of 18 Holes of Life) leaves 7 Holes of Life to play or almost half your life.
  4. At the beginning of Hole # 12 we are as street smart and confident as we will ever be in our life.
  5. Your best earning potential should occur between Hole # 9 and #12 (40 to 60 years of age).
  6. You could say at the beginning of Hole #12 we are just beginning the Rich Part of Our Life. That could be earning potential but it also may be the beginning of the period of our life were we really define what we will be known for after Hole # 18 (the memory bank, the legacy, how will my family remember me, the contribution you made to society).  Don’t take this lightly—it will weigh on you as you move through the last Holes of Your Life.
  7. Repurposing could be called “A Second Chance or Finally an Opportunity to do Things I Really Enjoy Doing”.

The concept of traditional Retirement is Dead.  The word retirement will no doubt be removed from the dictionary in the next few years.  First of all, large employers, private or public, cannot afford retirement programs any longer so they are just not part of the package.

Second, the millennial generation does not stay in any one job longer than 3-5 years, so there is not time to build up so called retirement benefits.  This means taking care of ourselves and our family through the second half of our lives is largely our responsibility.

If you want a safety net you have to create it for yourself and your loved ones.

That means you need to read my book 5 AT A TIME, a leadership self-help guide to planning your Life and Career 5-years at time.  A good safety net can only be created with a good set of plans that are reviewed regularly (plan, do, evaluate), and are updated annually as part of a strategic 5-year plan.  A good set of plans built from the bottom up will include:

  1. Contingency plans = looking at different “what if scenarios” and building reactions and actions to deal with every contingency.
  2. Operational plans = the processes you use to run you Life and Career starting with financial planning and ending with Supply Chain planning.
  3. Tactical plans = your marketing plan (and same for each family member) to get the best out of Life and Career = not just money but what makes you happy, what will make an impact!
  4. Strategic plans = this is your Business Plan for the next 5 -years = a roll-up of all 4 planning elements.

You manage the process of building a 5-year plan by doing it in five one-year increments, including contingency/operational/tactical/and strategic plan roll-up, and when it is all added up it becomes a 5-year Life and Career Strategic Plan.

Every six months put your plan goals and objectives through a “plan, do, evaluate” iterative review process, make adjustments and pivots if necessary, and keep MOVING UP the “S Curve” of Life and Career.  There is more on planning as a process, the planning review process (plan, do, evaluate) and the “S Curve of Life and Career” in my book 5 AT A TIME and in other blogs found at www.bradlienhart.com.

Repurposing, not retiring, is the new norm at age 55 through 60—Hole of Life #12.  Just think about it, that leaves 7 more Holes of Life if you live to 90, 35 more years or 40% of your life is still ahead of you and hopefully you have a family unit that will be there with you.

To me that is the WOW in Repurposing = I have a lot of Life and Career ahead of me—if I ever needed a 5-year plan for Life and Career the time is now.

Just let repurposing sink in—it could be called rebuilding, retraining, re-engineering, but clearly you can look at this next 7 Holes of Life through a wide lense and you have time to do almost anything and as a matter of fact many different things like get a new career education (nursing or health care), join the Peace Corp, take pictures and write books, start new businesses, join a non-profit to support a worthy cause, become a chef, star an organic farm or orchard, the list is literally endless

Oh! and that one last point = no one is going to take care of you but you!

According to the EY Purpose Study and Stan Phelps book the RED GOLDFISH, here is what can happen if you put PURPOSE at the core of your Life or Career Plan—your Business Plan:

  1. Purpose instills strategic clarity—remember how we built our Strategic Plan from the bottom up.
  2. Purpose guides choices about what to do and what not to do based on your first 11 Holes of Life experience.
  3. Purpose channels innovation and new business opportunities.
  4. Purpose is a force for and a response to transformation—as in repurposing oneself.
  5. Purpose taps a universal need to contribute, to be part of community and society, and to shape how I want to be remembered.
  6. Purpose helps build teamwork and at the same time helps individual members pursue a single, compelling objective.

Repurposing is refreshing, exciting, and compelling—but just think how much higher your ROL (Return on Life) from Repurposing will be if you do it with a series of 5-year plans following the theme of 5 AT A TIME.  It is never to late to start planning Life and Career 5-years at a time.

Learn how to order 5 AT A TIME from my website www.bradlienhart.com and enjoy my Leadership Practices blogs and series of 12 videos on my YouTube Channel, Lienhart Leadership Consulting, LinkedIn, Pinterest, as well as the website—and if I can help you or your Company with Leadership Coaching or any aspect of 5-year Life and Career planning please fill out the web page contact form.