Exuberant Transition - Nevada, 2017

Create Certain, Sequential Steps on Your Path

The end of your career.  For you it may be near at hand; for others it may be beyond their visible horizon. For virtually all of us, it is something that we think about.

Early in our careers, we tend to think about it in vague terms that become more specific as the years go by.

Later, when our horizon becomes more clear, two things happen:

• Our dreams about how we will live our lives become uplifted by increasing excitement.
• Then, as time wears on, more and more questions surface. They are typically represented by “W" questions: when and how, among others.

As the dreams become more clear and questions about how to achieve them increase, we realize that there is really a lot to this “retirement” thing.  

It becomes very evident that planning in a timely manner is essential to create reality from our dreams.

My story…

When my time was approaching, I became very aware of it and I resolved to beg...

Enlightened Visions - Florida; 2010

How to Take Solid Steps Along Your Path

The end of our careers is one of the most significant events of our lifetime that marks the beginning of the next phase of our lives.

Whether you are looking forward to it or not, the process of creating plans and executing them is marked with challenges and preoccupations.

It’s all worth it, as you envision and create realities that are the core of the new phase of your life.

Challenges and Opportunities

My personal experience, as well as guiding others as a consultant/coach, has reaffirmed certain challenges that must be recognized and managed effectively in a logical, sequential manner. This goes a long way to banish the stress of the unknown and help make the process a more positive experience.

So, what are these challenges and related questions?

First Things Should Not Always Be First

The first thing that most individuals naturally think about is their projected end date.

Then, there follows the ...

Sunset or Sunrise? - Florida Splendor, 2008

© Enrique Fernandez, M. D.

How the Unnatural Origin of Words Render Them Meaningless

The purpose of language is to communicate ideas effectively. The use of words best serves that goal when their meaning accurately describes reality. Throughout millennia, mankind has strived to deal with the successes and failures of communication.

One example of the inexact use of words is the term “retirement.”

My Encounter With “Retirement”

For many years I used that term as commonly used in the United States. That is, until the time came that I faced the unexpected end of my career as a Plastic Surgeon.

The diagnosis of cancer, its treatment and aftermath had a way of broadening my perspective about life. This was a vivid example. The good news, is that am cured, healthy and well!

Questions as Teachers

Questions and answers have a way of broadening one’s perspective. Questions like Why and What?

You ask yourself questions you previously did not ...

Transition Details - Sierra Nevada, 2017

There May Be Obstacles That Are Not Financial

There are several, major matters that are important to consider as you think about and plan your  End of Career Transition _{TM  .}

One is whether or not you are financially prepared.

There can be many reasons for not being financially prepared. Sometimes, it is for reasons beyond your control. This is a clear barrier to supporting the lifestyle you dream of. 

Two common, practical solutions are adjusting your financial, lifestyle plans, or perhaps both.

When it becomes evident that you are not financially ready, your attention can be very focused on solving that particular problem.

Whether finances may or may not be a concern for you, there are other matters that are important to think about and work through.

In the course of consulting and coaching professionals, I find that the impediment to taking action to plan and end their career is often not due to a lack of financial resources.

There i...

Orca Whales Cruising in Tandem, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska; 2012.

Their Realization Throughout Your Life: Key Elements  to Achieve Personal Fulfillment

It is the case that at times in life, it may be necessary to forgo satisfying a desire to enable the commitment of time, effort and perhaps financial resources to accomplish an essential need.

 This is a hallmark primarily of those earlier years when life’s responsibilities required such choices. Those choices often meant that wants or desires that were considered non-essential were put off. Perhaps they were never fulfilled and hopefully, simply deferred and remembered in the well of your memory.

I know that fulfilling those myriad responsibilities cheerfully, whether at home, work or community, springs forth from the nature of your character. Indeed, your cumulative experience and satisfaction derived from meeting your responsibilities further strengthens and develops  your character. So much so, that your focus on various...

The Natural Path of Your Nature - Sierra Nevada, NV

One fine morning with coffee in hand, you still savor that last sip of your custom brew.  You feel peaceful. Then a fleeting thought stirs up an awareness that you are thinking more and more about your future end of career and your new life. You smile and feel warmer inside…and then you feel a twinge of angst.

These are mixed emotions: joy and apprehension. They swirl around your mind stirred up much like the sweetener you blended into your coffee.

You wonder whether this is a common experience, how successful people deal with it and perhaps when you should begin to resolve this emerging dilemma.

You sense that you must do something.

A Fictional Character that Reflects a Real Person

The following is the gist of the common story of Alex, a fictional character like other accomplished individuals from all walks of life that I am familiar with.

Alex is at that time of his (or her) career when he sees his end of career within an ima...

J. P. Cunningham Cabin - Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming 

 Its Lasting Value Requires Your Clarity and Conviction

Your life’s purpose is an expression of your character. It does not need to be found; it is already within you.

Clarity of your purpose guides your deliberate decisions as to how you will manifest it…throughout your lifetime.

Clear Questions, Fuzzy Answers

I have the privilege of serving individuals from many walks of life. A significant number are highly trained and experienced in their respective fields. It is my observation that each usually believes that they know both their character and purpose…their Who and Why.

Yet, as these topics are discussed more deeply, it becomes evident to them and me that what seemed clear is really somewhat opaque.

The Ambiguous Lens of Introspection

A major personal impediment to clarity that is critical to developing a holistic understanding of oneself is this:

The common misconception that your internal identity and your purp...

Ethereal Tranquility - South Fork, Madison River, MT

You Will Benefit Now and After the End of Your Career

I believe that if you reflect upon your personal and professional development over the course of your career, you will probably validate that it paved your path to success. You may also discern that it is a prelude to your ongoing evolution as you begin to envision and prepare for your end of career.

Not so much to somehow brightly, spontaneously illuminate your new path. Rather, to use your skills and wisdom in the service of learning anew. To learn with deliberate purpose about a very unfamiliar, yet promising grand experience.

The end of career. It is a new experience for all of us. For most, it is an exciting time. You will likely have more than one dream…and each will be accompanied by many questions.

To question, to dream. To find answers and bring dreams to life is the essence of your path to a renewed and fulfilling lifestyle.

This is an extraordinary time that comes...

Exuberant Light of Your Life - Florida

The Timely Creation of Your End of Career and Lifestyle Plan is the Path to Fulfillment

One morning you wake with a yawn, a smile and thoughts about coffee. Then your mood changes somewhat as you feel the emerging realization that the end of your career is visible on your horizon. You smile again, this time with more enthusiasm. You have had a successful career and expect to also succeed in the next phase of your life…as you should and will.

Then you ask yourself: how do I succeed at that?

 You think about some research you have done. But, it occurs to you that you have not really prepared for your end of career transition and its aftermath. You recognize that your life’s experience has taught you that major goals require serious study, focus, discipline and much more.

And sometimes the obvious is worth stating: you have not experienced it yet.

You have considerable comfort knowing that you have been preparing financially to be able to ”ret...

Morphing and Maturing Manifest - Blue Morpho (Morpho peleides)

Butterfly Rainforest, University of Florida, Gainesville, Fl

The Language You Use to Describe it Can Affect Your Perspective

The end of your career is one of the most significant events of your life. It is a time when you may feel joy, pride, regret, uncertainty, excitement and many other feelings that are unique to each individual.

You may be looking forward to this new phase of your life with stressful uncertainty or joyful  anticipation.  I find that, as it is for others, it is also a time when you may experience a sense of loss of what you are leaving behind.

An optimistic view is that this is a moment of your life that presents you with the opportunity for personal achievement manifested as renewal and ongoing fulfillment.

My Life and Lessons

I have experienced precisely those feelings and much more.

My life experience includes three lessons and observations.

One, is my own end of career Transition. It was dif...