10 tips for a great life after work – MarketWatch

By Ed Merck

I sold my successful software business in 2007 and almost immediately began feeling a lack of purpose and direction.

Never one to sit out the dance, I sold my house, moved out of my beloved community, bought an oceangoing sailboat, and set sail along the east coast of America.

I found the immediate shift from being deeply invested in helping clients create new futures to looking for a fresh identity while living out on the ocean both exhilarating and deeply challenging (all described in my book, Sailing the Mystery. )

Although I now have a whole new and exciting life four years later, in retrospect I wish I’d given greater thought to creating a more easeful transition.

To help provide a gentler glide path as you enter your after-work years, here are 10 tips I’ve incorporated into my life with the benefit of trial and error:

1. Write a vision statement. Use it as your overarching reference point in planning decisions. As you formulate a vision statement, look closely at what matters to you and answer these questions:

• What stimulates me intellectually, emotionally and spiritually?

• What activates my creativity?

• What nourishes my spirit?

• What makes me happy?

• What opens my heart?

• What gives me joy?

• What kind of legacy do I want to leave?

• What moves me into a place or state more expansive than myself?

• What old or new passions energize me?