Build Yourself a Great Story

If a graduation mindset is the new retirement, and a commencement message the source of inspiration, then let’s consider the advice Amazon’s founder and CEO Jeff Bezos shared with graduating Princeton students:

“When you are 80 years old, and in a quiet moment of reflection narrating for only yourself the most personal version of your life, the telling that will be most compact and meaningful will be the series of choices you have made. In the end, we are our choices. Build yourself a great story.” 

Let’s change Bezos’ message to: “When you are (current age)…” and then do what he suggests. Begin with reflecting on your life.

Next, write the most personal version of your life. This isn’t a version for Facebook or Instagram, where we tend to project a perfect life. It’s not your Christmas card annual letter. This version of your life is for your eyes only. It’s the real deal.

Now consider these questions:

Is the most compact and meaningful version a reflection of the choices I’ve made? List these choices.

What choices am I most proud of? What choices made a positive difference in my life?

Have I lived my life intentionally, or have I let life drift along, come as it may? When I’m 80 years old will I be happy with this story?

Are there choices I want to make now that will change the course of my story?

List these choices, and then write a specific plan to put these into action.

In the book When to Jump, contributing writer Maia Josebachvili reminds us to be open to edits in our life story. “The most meaningful outcomes happen after your first plans change….We’re only so creative and so imaginative—how can we possibly know what exciting choices we’ll have in front of us in three years? Seven years? New experiences open up your eyes to what the possibilities are.”

In other words, our lives will be more interesting as we intentionally make meaningful choices. Keep writing yourself a great story!

Copyright 2018. Patrice Jenkins. All Rights Reserved.

If the Retirement You Have Isn't the Life You Want

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I find some of my best lessons for retirement come from business and career books. This is the reason I was drawn to Mike Lewis’ book: When to Jump—If the Job You Have Isn’t the Life You Want. 

The title made me think, “What do you do if the retirement you have isn’t the life you want?” I wanted to learn more.

Lewis writes about his decision to leave a corporate career to pursue the professional squash circuit—a ball and racket sport that’s played in a four-walled court. He left what was certain and financially lucrative to go after what was calling him. It wasn’t easy, but he knew he had to do it.

Based on society’s definition of success, Lewis should have loved his life—it was everything he had worked to achieve. Get good grades. Go to a highly selective college. Get a great internship and be offered a permanent position upon graduation. His parents were happy. He was supposed to be happy. It was what I call a “looks good, feels bad” job for Mike. Maybe for someone else it would be a “looks good, feels good” job. That’s the person who should be doing it.

I was drawn to this book because I believe the retirement lifestyle can also be a “looks good, feels bad” place. You prepare financially for retirement so that you can enjoy this next stage of life without work. But once you get here, you may find that it’s not enough. Something isn’t right.

Lewis writes about the “little voice.” He says, “It feels awkward when a little voice talks to you, a voice you’re scared to listen to. It feels even more awkward when that voice won’t go away.” Eventually Lewis had to respond.

Not that it was easy. And if you have a little voice that is reminding you of a dream or goal you had for your life, doing something about that voice won’t be easy for you either. Lewis said, “I had the job and lifestyle I had thought I wanted, yet I secretly held out hope—for a knock on the door, for someone to enter my tiny office, walk up to my desk, and give me permission to leave: 'Mike, it’s July 1, time to chase your dream, remember?' ”

Like Mike, you may be waiting for a knock on the door, permission to go after your dream. If the voice is speaking to you, and it won’t go away, now is the time to start doing what you really want to be doing.

Amazon’s founder and CEO Jeff Bezos delivered this advice to graduating Princeton students, “When you are 80 years old, and in a quiet moment of reflection narrating for only yourself the most personal version of your life, the telling that will be most compact and meaningful will be the series of choices you have made. In the end, we are our choices. Build yourself a great story.”

Although this message was directed to 20-something-year-old graduates, Bezos asked them to think about when they’re 80 years old. Most of us are closer to 80 than 20-something. Consider this message your knock on the door.  It might be time to jump.

Copyright 2018. Patrice Jenkins. All Rights Reserved.