How Much of Your Identity Has Been Defined by Your Business Card?

Whether you are already retired, thinking of retiring, or just taking a breath before what’s next, how well do you know who you are outside of your career? Do you have clarity about your purpose?

Part of my passion for this work has come from talking with people in my health care practice who have retired in the last few years. Many are doing everything they’ve always wanted to do: travel, participate in family activities, and pursue hobbies. Some are busy attending to health issues or surgeries they have put off.

I notice that a portion of these folks, often former business owners, C-suite and other successful executives or knowledge experts who were always in demand, talk of feeling insignificant or invisible after some time passes in retirement. I will commonly hear these folks say, “I don’t know where I fit any more or why it matters that I’m still on the planet.” The conversations turn to the past and who they used to be and how this is different. While they may keep a full calendar, they tell me about waking in the morning and wondering what the real reason is for getting out of bed that day. They are hungry for something to sink their teeth into.

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