Tag Archives: Reinvention

The Best Things About the Voyage!

Good morning! If you’ve popped over here to check out An Encore Voyage, there’s a really good chance that you were directed here by Donna over at Retirement Reflections! You see, Donna does a weekly Sunday Guest Post series, and for reasons that completely befuddle the mind, she asked me to participate! How cool is that!

If this is your first time visiting here, WELCOME! We are on an Encore Voyage because, after long-time careers, we sort of got thrown into the deep end ———– um…we found ourselves both unemployed! Or as hubs likes to describe it,

“We were given the opportunity to reinvent ourselves!”

And so we entered the early retirement group – even though we weren’t planning on it!

Since this voyage began, we’ve learned a great deal!

We’ve learned that sometimes being together 24/7 can be a bit of a challenge. But guess what? It’s really a lot of fun if you follow some simple advice.

Admittedly, we needed to do some simplifying and minimizing to maintain our lifestyle. But in the end, it has brought us a clearer focus about what’s really important.

We started up our Encore Career – We didn’t want to be just “finished,” but we didn’t want to start over from scratch either. So we reinvented ourselves and created a business that we can be passionate about – and we do it from home and on our own schedules!

And we’ve learned that this type of “retirement” is a total blast! It doesn’t look anything like the things we feared retirement might be. And there are lots of things that make this encore gig of ours a delightful experience.

One of those is the time I now have to be creative on this blog, and to engage with others in the blogging community. It’s a little weird that in just a few short months, I have developed on-screen relationships with so many other bloggers. It’s like we’ve gotten to know each other. And as I said earlier, one of my very favorite virtual friends is Donna at Retirement Reflections. Donna is my neighbor to the north – She and her husband are from Vancouver Island, British Columbia…(Lucky ducks!) Donna is adventuresome, organized, just a tiny bit nerdy like me – and a fabulous writer! So if you haven’t gotten the chance, be sure to click on over and check her out! She’s awesome-sauce!

And thanks again, Donna, for inviting me to participate in your Sunday Guest Post series!

Lynn

Encore Quotes – Who Will You Become?

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And retirement is just the beginning of a new and exciting voyage! Are you becoming the person you have always wanted to be? Are you chasing your dreams? Do you continue to have Big Goals? I hope so! Have a wonderful weekend, fellow voyagers!

Lynn

Before You Take the Retirement Leap – 10 Questions to Consider

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We have a very dear friend who is six months to a year away from making the leap into retirement. He has worked long, hard hours to make sure that he and his wife will be financially ready. In his mind, I think he envisions retirement as just “stopping.” But at the Voyage, we’ve learned that there is a lot more to consider:

Do you have a plan? You are about to enter your own “second act.” Think of this as an opportunity to start over…to redesign your life to be any way you wish it could be! An architect friend of ours recently published the book, “Life-A-Tecture: Build an Experience-Driven Life.” It’s a great read, full of timely advice and lots of motivation.
Do you really want to be just ‘done’? Perhaps you want to consult, teach or work part-time. Is there a different way to continue with only the best parts of your current job?
What are you curious about? What is it that will get you up in the morning? Do you have a passion, something you wish you could do, something you’ve always wanted to try or learn? You know how when you are so busy with working and the day-to-day grind that you never have the time to xxx (fill in the blank here). Well, you are about to get that time, so give it some thought!
What is your hobby or interest? Now is the time to start considering what you need to pursue that hobby. Are there art classes nearby? Do you need to finally purchase that kayak?
Is there an opportunity for you to give back? If you are like us, you have led a very blessed working career and have a lifetime of experience. Now may be the time for you to volunteer, participate in a professional organization or give back to your community.
Do you have a sense of adventure? I’m pretty certain that no one who enters retirement does so thinking, “I know…I think I’ll sit here in my recliner in front of the TV every day until they haul my sorry behind away.” You need to develop a sense of giddy freedom!
How will you maintain your circle of friends? This is a big one. Because a primary source of our contacts come from a work environment, you need to keep and expand your relationships with intentionality. We’ve found that professional organizations, clubs, coffee groups and even social media have been critical in keeping us from ever feeling lonely.
Do you plan to travel? There are lots of issues to consider with traveling, including destinations, traveling styles, and the ins-and-outs of traveling together. Time to start dreaming, discussing and planning!
For those of you who are married, are you ready to be together 24/7? This is a huge thing to consider! It was probably the steepest learning curve we had when we started the Encore Voyage. In “Life-A-Tecture” our friend has made this his #1 Rule: “Marry the right person. If you have not married the right person, you have got problems. That person should be the love of your life and your best friend.” We have found his advice to be spot on, and share even more hints in Retirement Togetherness – 10 Steps for 24/7 Success.
What are your DREAMS and GOALS? Because you see, Retirement is NOT an END! It is just a beginning of a new adventure. A new Voyage, if you will. To be really successful in retirement, you need to have some new and bigger plans for the future!

So how about it. If you could give one piece of advice to someone who is about to retire, what (non-financial) advice would that be? I’m anxious to hear the things I’ve missed!

Lynn

Because We Can!

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My best friend and I are both retired teachers. We have talked on the phone, pretty much every night, for the past 30+ years. We live in towns that are roughly 15 miles apart, and we have been talking on the phone since the days when it was long distance for us to call each other.

These days the favorite thing about retirement, for both of us, is that we can pick up the phone and call each other at ten o’clock in the morning. We will often call just to chat about something stupid that just happened, or to share what’s going on. And our new favorite phrase is,

“I thought I’d call…Why???…Because I can!!!”

It is our favorite thing! We no longer need to wait until the end of the workday to share our stories. And it got me thinking about the many, many things that we now are able to do…

Because We Can

Read a book until 3:00 AM. Or in the middle of the afternoon.

Take a nap in the middle of the day, or whenever we feel the need.

Work on craft projects – for me it’s quilting – whenever the urge hits.

Eat popcorn for dinner or pizza for breakfast!

Run errands in the middle of the day. Mow the lawn on a Tuesday. Shop for groceries ANY day but the weekend!

Take a trip, near or far, and leave on a Tuesday, with very little notice and not too much advance planning!

Enjoy the many, many venues that exist in our city, but which we have never previously taken advantage of: the art museum, the history museum, the botanical garden, the local parks, our many craft breweries…you get the idea.

Oh yeah, and have cocktails or a glass of wine – at 4:00 in the afternoon!

Putter our way through household chores – We no longer need to get everything done on the weekend. A little laundry here, a little dusting there…good enough!

Take a walk in the middle of the day, or go to our 24-hour gym at 9:00 at night!

Go out for brunch any day of the week.

Meet up with friends, pretty much whenever it’s convenient!

So how about it. What are those things that you love doing now in retirement, just “because you can?” I’d love to hear how others are enjoying their voyage!

Lynn

Photo credit: Charlz Gutierrez de Pineres ~ Unsplash

Seven Ways to Make Retirement Seem Easy

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Lately, it seems that many retirement blogs and websites have been issuing warnings about how difficult it can be to retire. They warn of the dangers that lurk right behind the euphoria of new found freedom. Tales of depression setting in, boredom developing, and my personal favorite, “disenchantment” – that realization that freedom from employment ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. There seem to be endless lists about the things that make retirement hard…

How about, for a change, we examine those elements that, with just a little planning,

Make Retirement Easy

Understanding “enough” – When we first started the Encore Voyage, we were in a state of mild panic. Oh my God, we have no steady income stream…Until my little sister wisely asked, “How much do you really need, anyway?” And it started our examination of exactly “How Much is Enough?” Not in a financial planning sort of way, but in a philosophical, examine your life and decide what is really important, and think about what you really need to be happy. Hopefully, you can make the cash and the needs match up.

Minding your people – I would agree that retirement could get lonely if you don’t pay attention to your tribe. It could be family, current friends, or new friends to be made. The point is that relationships matter, and because the work environment no longer automatically forces us into talking with other humans, we must be diligent in nurturing our relationships with intentionality.

Embracing funny – There are lots of things about retirement, heck – in the world in general – that if we didn’t laugh about them, we would cry! If you can laugh about your colonoscopy, you can laugh about most things. And as we age, you simply must try to see the humor in the journey, or you’ll find yourself yelling, “Get off my lawn!”

Pursuing your passion – Retirement is nothing if not a Huge Opportunity to take the time to enjoy all of the interests, hobbies, and activities that always got pushed out of the picture during our working careers! It is worrisome if you don’t have any, or if you don’t know what they are – the world is your oyster. If you are bored, you just haven’t examined all of the possibilities.

Having a purpose – It could be a working for a charity. It might be involvement in your church. Perhaps it is volunteering in some way in the community (Eh-hem…former teacher here ~ have you checked out your local school for volunteering opportunities?) For that matter, like us, it could be an “Encore Career” – doing something important (maybe even your dream job.) Retirement is made more sweet by having a good reason to get out of bed in the morning.

Cuddling the globe – OK, I will admit, I have blatantly stolen that phrase from a lovely travel blog that you can find here. Exploration and travel, even if you never leave your own community, open your mind and your senses to all that exists in this big, wide, wonderful world.

Fighting the flabby – Not that I would ever think that you can stop the aging process, but there are lots of things you can do to stay as fit and mobile as possible. I know it’s not always easy, but we need to get off the couch and move in order to make the most of our retirement years.

I have had so many people tell me that “Not everyone could do what you and Jeremy do.” They imply that this voyage is, for some reason, very difficult. I guess I’m just a “glass half-full” sort of gal, because I think this retirement gig is really pretty simple!

Lynn

Photo credit: Austin Schmid ~ Unsplash

Retirement – What will you learn next?

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A few days ago, “Sparky” over at Mr. Fire Station posted a list of the five stages of retirement. In the third stage, the Bloomberg graphic claims that you need to be prepared for the boredom which will inevitably set in. I voiced my opinion in my comment on his blog, and I will say it again now…

That’s bull pucky!

We live in a great big, vast world in which you have learned exactly 0% of all of the things out there to be discovered! Even the inside of your own mind is endless! (I admit, I read that somewhere!) But it’s so true! Anything that even remotely peaks your interest is yours for the taking, and in this Encore Voyage, you have nothing if not time to pursue those interests.

For me, I have found that each time I decide I want to learn something new, it keeps leading me to the next thing, and I can’t decide what I should try next! In fact, I keep finding that I don’t have enough time to tackle all the things I want to try! That age old expression, “When did I find time to work?” is certainly true!

Take, for example, my saxophone. A few years back, commented that I wanted to play a second, more portable musical instrument. I already play the piano, but it’s a little difficult to pack up and take to a party! My piano teacher advised me that I have the “attitude of an alto sax player” whatever that’s supposed to mean, and now I’m the proud owner of a beautiful alto sax. I’m committed to one day playing that sucker! Right now, I’m at the “squawking like I’m calling geese” stage, but I will improve with practice and time.

The point is, in retirement, especially in this internet age, you can learn to do pretty much anything you put your mind to…So I ask youInstead of sitting around being bored and waiting for the next stage to arrive, how about you ask yourself some questions:

What’s next?

What are my goals?

What do I want to learn, do, or be?

Is there anything that I’ve always wanted to try?

Where do I see myself in the next 10 years?

Because, my friend, if you don’t pay attention, you will let your retirement years slip away. You will sleep in, watch TV, play computer games, go out to lunch with friends, play golf, babysit those grand kids, and before you know it, a couple of decades will have passed, and I don’t want you to get to the end of it asking, “Is that it???” Because the only path to a rich, rewarding and vigorous retirement requires some soul searching, self-reflection, and learning new things!

Lynn

Not Completely Retired? 8 Tips for Working From Home

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A couple of weeks ago I wrote about what actually “counts” as being retired. Obviously, times have changed, and “retirement” is looking a great deal different than it did during my parents’ time. In reinventing ourselves on the Voyage, hubs and I decided to start our own business, partly because we wanted the additional income stream, but also because we enjoy the creativity and opportunities we’ve discovered. Hubs will remind you that Frank Lloyd Wright did not actually hit his stride until he was 70 years old!

But we don’t pay for the overhead of an outside office space and instead, we work out of our home. In living and working together 24/7, let’s just say we’ve learned a few things as they relate to working from home. You might find these tips helpful:

1. Keep a workday schedule – If you want to operate a business, you need to treat it as you would a business outside of the home. Hubs gets up every morning, showers and is in his office generally before 7:00 AM. He recognizes that business is taking place out there, even across time zones, and he wants to be at his computer and participating in it!

2. Dress for the job – It’s a mindset. No, really it is. Hubs may start the day in khaki pants and a polo, change into jeans and a t-shirt to mow the lawn later in the day, then change back into “work clothes” when he returns to his office. Now I will admit that I’ve done some paperwork in my jammies, and occasionally I’m barefoot – but as a rule, we respect our business enough to dress the part.

3. Have a “space” dedicated to doing business – Perhaps it’s an office, maybe it’s a desk or even a table in a corner. The point is, it’s a space that is way different than sitting on the couch or recliner. It’s pretty darned easy to get distracted away from the task at hand if that TV flipper is too close! Wherever that space is, it needs to be functional for the demands of the job, with easy access to whatever materials and resources are necessary.

4. Professionalism on the phone is important – This was sort of weird for us at first, as we both use our personal cell phones. Decide, in advance, how you will answer your phone to take business calls or to answer numbers which are unknown. Your business persona is most likely quite different than the way you answer calls from your mom! In some cases, you may want a phone and dedicated line specifically for business. Either way, the current state of cellular technology has convinced us that “the world is flat” and that we can conduct business from nearly anywhere that we have a cell signal!

5. It helps to have a “hotspot.” – We’ve found that having a Wi-Fi hotspot, separate from our phones, has allowed us to have secure internet connection no matter where we travel. When we have traveled out of the country, we have put the hotspot on the international plan with our provider, allowing us to hook up as many as 5 different devices on the road.

6. Be aware of background noise – There is nothing that will make a business seem more questionable than a barking dog or a crying baby in the background! Do you want to do business with someone when you can hear the sounds of “Days of Our Lives” in the background? Didn’t think so…

7. Have a place to meet “clients” – Do you want to have clients come to your home? Early on, we laughed at having “Conference Room East” and “Conference Room West” – coffee shops on both sides of town where we would offer to meet and buy coffee for potential business associates. We also have several professional partners who have offered to let us use their business conference rooms when needed. Some cities have “incubator spaces” where a conference room could be rented on an as-needed basis. Once, when needing to meet with a members of a visiting out of town architectural firm, we had to scramble to find a professional place to meet! It would have been helpful to have a plan up front!

8. Know how to communicate, “I’m Working!” – This has been one of the trickier aspects of the Voyage, and while every instance will be personal, it is fairly universal for those working from home. It is easy for well-intentioned friends and family to believe that you should be able to set business pursuits aside in favor of other activities. “What do you mean you can’t go shopping this afternoon??? Can’t you just do that later?” It can be difficult to explain that while being your own boss does allow for some flexibility, business often must come first!

On the Encore Voyage, we claim to be one-third Frank Lloyd Wright, one-third Warren Buffet, and one-third Jimmy Buffet. We spend quite a bit of time on the Frank Lloyd portion of this gig…it’s not all Jimmy having cheeseburgers in paradise. And while we absolutely love being in charge of every day, stretching our entrepreneurial wings, working from home has been an interesting part of the journey. So how about it…any other tips you’d like to add? I’d love it if you’d share in the comments!

Lynn

Photo credit: Bench Accounting – Unsplash

Our Encore Career – 10 Steps to Success

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If I had a dollar for every time someone has said to us, “I want to do what you guys did!”, we could retire all over again! If you have read our history, then you know that we sort of got thrown into the voyage head first. Even so, there are some things we learned along the way that we can share. So if you are feeling crushed by your current job, and want to start your own Encore Career, here are some things that you might find helpful.

1. Have some sort of savings in place. That’s right – If you are going to strike out on your own, you need a bit of a safety cushion to cover the cost of day to day expenses for a few months while you get things off the ground. I’m not talking about your retirement account! Do Not Ever steal from an IRA, even if you think you’ll pay it back! It’s highly unlikely you ever will! I’m not talking about a business loan. It may be the case that you will secure a business loan to get your ideas off the ground – but you need some funds to sustain you outside of business expenses, at least for a little while.

2. Find your passion. I asked hubs what his dream job would be if he could choose. Figure out what the thing is that you would like to do every day, even if it didn’t make you a dime…then figure out a way to make money doing that! The whole point of the Encore Voyage is not just to be self-employed, but to be on a soul fulfilling journey! Decide what you want your dream life to look like.

3. Create an SOQ – A Statement of Qualifications. It’s where you sit down and write out all of the marketable skills you have that you wish to promote. What are those things you do particularly well? What goods do you have to sell? Here is where you showcase your talents and abilities, and describe them in a nice format.

4. Determine some short-term, mid-term and long-term goals. Where do you want to be in 6 months, a year, or even five years? How will you know if this voyage is working for you? Yes, not starving is a good indicator, but it shouldn’t be the only one! It should be observable and measurable.

5. Establish your business identity. What will you call yourself? How will you explain what it is that you do? Will you have a logo? A business name and website? Do you need/want to register your business with your state? Do you need to establish a separate business banking account? These were all the nagging little details that made the voyage seem scary and intimidating at first.

6. Establish a fee structure. Do some research to determine the going rates for services or products similar to yours, and to determine what the market will bear. Get an idea firmly written down of what you will charge for your services or goods.

7. Take as many steps as possible to minimize business debt at first. Just because you start “a business” does not mean you can take a trip and call it a business expense! You still need to consider profit and loss. Hubs and I have very little overhead, because we work from our home, and have no other employees. We are careful to keep control of our costs.

8. Keep excellent records. It has taken us a couple of years to wrap our arms around the record keeping. From costs related to each job, to keeping receipts and filing, you need to be able to see the bottom line quickly and clearly.

9. Network and advertise yourself. I think this was the thing that sets Jeremy apart from many others. He has a huge network of people he has met during the years, and I don’t believe he ever burned a bridge! He started smilin’ and dialin’ – letting people know what he was up to, what he was wanting to do, and what he could possibly do for them. Sometimes he met colleagues for coffee. He took others to lunch. He attended meetings of professional organizations and actively sought out places where he could make an impact. From helping others to volunteering, the idea is to stay in front of potential clients. This is not the time to adopt the notion that, “I’m good at what I do, so people will come to me.” We’ve known several fellow voyagers who followed this course, and have sunk!

10. Don’t. Stop. Moving. To be successful on the Encore, you need to have some hustle! Those who fail are the ones with an “I’ll do it later” attitude. If you believe that you can do this with a TV flipper in your hand, you are sadly mistaken. Success is not easy…and it is certainly not for the lazy!

I know what you are thinking…You’re saying, “Wait…I thought you guys were retired!!” Well, we are…sort of. We are designing a life doing exactly what we want to do, when we want to do it, where we want to do it, and with whom we want to do it! All of the steps above sound like crazy hard work, and initially, they were frightening, and nerve wracking. That said, the end result is that

We get to decide what to make of each day!

And as we’ve become more comfortable on the voyage, we often look at each other and say,

“Dang…This is a really sweet gig we’ve got going here!”

Here’s to hoping that you, too, can end up with a “sweet gig!”

Lynn

Photo credit: Sergey Zolkin – Unsplash

Retirement Rituals

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Retirement Rituals-What are Yours-

Before the hubs and I started this retirement phase, we got up every morning and headed off to our respective jobs. Patterns emerged…we sort of fell into a routine of who did what each day, each week. He got up early and made the coffee. I figured out what we were having for dinner and made arrangements.

Out the door we went, where we put in our 8 hours working for the man…(ha ha ha – Who am I kidding! I was a TEACHER for cryin’ out loud). But wait…I digress…When we finally did arrive home after work, we again settled into the motions of getting all of the required tasks done so that we would be able to successfully get up and do it all again tomorrow. After 30 years or so, let’s just say

We settled into a routine!

But after just a short time on the Encore Voyage, guess what happened?

The routine got shot to hell!

You see, now, nobody absolutely must be out the door by 7:00 AM anymore. The entire house does not need to be cleaned on a Saturday because we have plenty of time over the course of several days. We can shop for groceries…together…at midnight…on a Tuesday! We can read books all night and snooze in the afternoon if need be. Even our Encore Careers which we’ve developed have flexibility of schedule. So many times, we just look at each other and say,

“This is a sweet gig.”

We now have time to pause, to reflect, to live our lives with more intention. We enjoy being together, and are paying attention to what that really means. Many different sorts of “routines” have started to emerge. They are ours, they are personal, they are subtle. Some are just plain goofy things we do, some will probably make you gag – and they are all the exact opposite of rushing out the door.

Here’s a few to show you what I mean:

When we get up, hubs now comes around to my side of the bed, tucks the covers in around me, and tweaks the end of my nose. (Sickeningly sweet, I know!) I wake up every morning feeling cherished.
Often in the evening, we have a glass of wine before dinner. I don’t know why or when it started, but with every glass of wine I drink, I now hand him my glass and give him the last sip. My way of saying, “I’d give you everything?
Hubs often needs to fly to different project sites. Not that I worry about his flying, but still…every time he lands at an airport, he sends me the following text – “Tranquility base, the Eagle has landed.” I am his tranquility base.
Now, every morning, because we don’t have to rush off to our respective employers, our dog, Roxy and I head into hub’s office, where we both climb onto his lap for a second and be “daddy’s girls.” Alright, I know you’re thinking that one is a little over the top…

My point is, we are developing new rituals – new ways of being with each other – that our working lives would not have allowed. We are creating new life patterns that are based not on a hurried routine, but rather on lingering in the moments that matter. Who knows – perhaps in retirement we have developed cases of “terminal mushiness.” When I asked hubs about it, he said, “I don’t know…but I love you, and I appreciate you.” I am confident that he always has! But the Encore Voyage has given us time to delight in our new routines.

Lynn

Photo Credit: Emanuel Feruzi – Unsplashed

Retiring with Intention – 12 Ways

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Live less out of habit and more out of

This morning I decided to write at the counter, while enjoying my morning coffee and the sunrise as it peeked in my kitchen window. It occurred to me that before the Encore Voyage, I rarely took the time to just be observant about sights and sounds around me. The Encore Voyage is changing us…Jeremy and I are choosing to live our lives more intentionally. We get to decide what to make of each day. The other night, while enjoying a glass of wine, we made a list of those things in our lives we really value. Here’s our list:

1. Our marriage – We both agreed that this is number one on our list. Our number one priority is each other. Jeremy once participated in a leadership training seminar where the speaker instructed the participants to take a sheet of paper, fold it in quarters, then write the things they valued most in each of the four quadrants. After that was done, participants were instructed to tear off the least valuable thing and throw it away. This was followed by the next least valuable, and the next, until each person was left holding only one quadrant. The eye-opening part of the exercise is that people in the room threw their kids, God, their wives in crumpled wads onto the floor…because they thought they should value “becoming a vice president….”

So often we hear that “marriage is hard.” Call me crazy, but I’ve never found this to be the case. There is nothing hard about being kind, being thoughtful, putting the other person first – it’s just that over the years we grow complacent, and forget the person we married in the first place.

2. Developing soul – enhancing relationships – OK, I must admit that I have stolen this lovely expression from Erika over at All Things E, because she is spot on. At first, we thought the important thing was our family members…but then we realized that while we will always try to support “family members,” the label of ‘family’ is not what counts. We have many people in our lives who are closer than family (gal pals, you know who you are). More importantly, there are people whose relationships we wish to nurture because they add such a fulfilling quality to our lives. So whether it be relationships with God, with siblings, with family members or with acquaintances, it seems important to intentionally decide how and with whom we spend our time. Thanks Erika, for putting that little tidbit into our brains.

3. Learning new things – One of the best parts of the Voyage has been the opportunity for us to take on new challenges. When I was teaching, I used to tell my students that they needed to learn something new every day, or they might as well have stayed in bed! We delight in the notion that there is an entire unexplored world out there and we can learn about anything we can imagine!

4. Building and creating – High on our list is the notion that we value our creative yearnings. Anyone who has seen my craft closet knows that I can never be tied down to one thing. I have stacks of PhD’s (projects half done!) The opportunity to try our hand at new creative ventures makes us both thrive.

5. Exploring new places – It could be travel, it could be places in our own town. It could be a picnic in the local countryside. It doesn’t need to cost money. There is so much in this world to see and experience. We value our wanderlust!

6. Reading Forever – Borrowed that phrase from Nook at B&N. So many books, so little time. Nuf said!

7. Appreciating and making music – Music has been important to both of us since we were very young. From playing my piano, to learning to play the sax, to enjoying the fruits of our local symphony, to good old rock and roll…we want our lives to have a sound track. Which brings us to number 8…

8. Supporting the arts – Shakespeare, local theater, dance groups and galleries, just to name a few – Life is about collecting experiences, and the arts provide us with some of the richest.

9. Health, physical activity and self-acceptance – We have been giving a lot of thought lately to our pursuit of good health. We eat a lot healthier lately, and I have logged hundreds of hours at the gym in the last two years, cycling and treadmilling to nowhere and challenging my muscles with weights. It has occurred to me that all those hours at the gym may not be the best use of time. What if, perhaps, we actually took a walk or went for a run or swim? What if we climbed a trail instead of the Stair Master? How about walking the golf course, climbing real stairs, parking at the far side of the parking lot? It seems to me that an intentional life would value more authentic types of activity.

With that in mind, I’ve also decided that I’m tired of searching for a different me. Yep, I’m a little heavier than I’d like to be – I’ll keep working on it. But it does me no good to wish for the body of that college girl 30 years ago. And it is self-defeating to keep saying, “Six months from now I’ll wear a smaller dress size.” So I’m committed to doing the best I can to keep this body healthy and strong, and to be OK with the woman in the mirror.

10. Good Food – Exploration for our senses! – Keeping in mind number 9 above, we decided that exploring good, real food is something we both value. We want to experience the flavors and combinations of different cultures and cuisines – from fresh tomatoes and lettuce that we grow in our garden to cheeses, wines and dishes from other countries. That’s not an excuse to eat an entire cake in one sitting (again, see number 9.) It is, however, a statement that protein powders and tofu are just not going to cut it for us…we crave real, whole delicious foods creatively prepared!

11. Taking time for rest, relaxation and meditation – I used to go through life like a freight train. Now we have realized the value in taking some time to just be…time to think, to recharge, to de-stress and to let go. Oh, I wish so much that we had learned this value while we were working for others. Because we now take time for ourselves, the quality of our lives has improved ten-fold. You should learn. from. our. mistakes!

12. Gratitude and giving back – These days we pay more attention to how blessed we feel to be able to travel this voyage. We are thankful that we have ‘enough.’ In fact, we have more than we could possibly need. We’ve come to realize the importance of giving back and have found that greater selflessness is life enriching. And face it – It’s not hard to look around and find a need to be filled.

When I look at our list, it’s clear to me that none of this is about accumulating “stuff.” A successful life isn’t about money or possessions. Every item on this list is about how we act…those behaviors which enrich and give fullness to our lives. Yes, I realize that people, including us, still need to work for a living. For us, intentional living is about trying to make our actions fall in line with what we value. It’s about paying attention to what we do, and determining if those actions fit in with our list.

So how about it…what do you value in creating an intentional life? Leave a comment – I’d love to hear!