Splendor Amidst Transition - 2013

Carson Canyon, CA 

 On Planning and Prospering 

When you start thinking about preparing for your end of career, personal and professional matters will likely come to mind.

Whether you're in group practice, a solo practitioner or otherwise employed, there are important professional matters that are necessary for you to address.

When to Begin?

It’s very difficult to know exactly when is the right time to begin to plan, primarily because this is an unfamiliar experience.

I have discussions with colleagues who find themselves in the initial phase of their planning. It’s often the case that they have waited much too long to begin to develop their plans, let alone implement them.

This is a tip for timeliness: The process of transition really begins personally when you begin thinking about it considerably more often than you’re used to. When you find yourself in that situation, your transition has already begun....

Autumn Splendor - 2017

Sierra Nevada, NV

You Come First

The impending end of your career comes with a blend of thoughts and feelings that vary widely. They reflect the temperament, personalities and circumstances of those of you that are anticipating your transition or actually going through it.

Pondering and Planning

I know that the thinking that is applied to planning in a timely manner can range from minimal to substantial and proactive. In the case of the former, the results are all too often a much less favorable outcome than what could have been. In the latter instance, they are described by success.  Either way, at some point, the results become evident.

The feelings that you will likely experience can also vary widely: from joy of anticipation to downright dread. It is often that the former is experienced by of those of you who plan proactively, whereas the latter is more likely the outcome for those who do not.

In my previous article I discussed “The Big...

A Solid Path Amidst Evanescent Obstacles - 2019

Sierra Nevada, CA

Timing: First Things First

Your End of Career Transition involves a multitude of matters that require thoughtful, timely planning in order to experience a smooth and successful outcome. They include personal, professional and practice preparations…in that order. This article addresses the solo practitioner practice model. Knowledge of preparation for this type of scenario has the broadest usefulness to other practice types.

As you read this, please review references to previous articles that discuss these topics in greater detail.

Unfamiliar Realities

There are two major realities that you should be aware of and consider as you plan and prepare.

The first is to acknowledge that your End of Career Transition is a process, not an event. It begins as a very personal experience when you find yourself thinking about it more often than usual. As time wears on, a myriad of questions will probably preoccupy you. Among...

Glorious Expression - 2009

Florida

Summary:

An Unspoken but Common Challenge to Your End of Career

The anticipation and actual experience of the end of your career is a major life transition. It will present you with unfamiliar challenges in addition to financial concerns.

Some of the concerns will be obvious to you, others are not. Yet, they are profound, common and often unspoken.

These are some of the less evident, but important ones:

• Not knowing how to go about the process of transition. 
• Not clearly distinguishing Who you are as an individual vs. What your title has been…your sense of identity and how this is relates to your transition.
• Not knowing What you will do in the future that fulfills your purpose and desires in a balanced manner.
• Not having the confidence that after the end of your career you will continue to feel relevant.

In this audio I discuss these and, specifically, why the topic of relevance is important to you now and as you approach your end of...

Autumn Splendor - 2013

Colorado

Summary: 

Planning and Execution: How to do it

This is the familiar story of Alex, a fictional character like many accomplished individuals from all walks of life. Alex is at that time of his (or her) career when he can see his end of career on the horizon.

He has had a successful career. The discipline of creating visions, actionable plans executing them is familiar to him. He has done it repeatedly during his career. But a powerful insight in a moment of clarity revealed to him the source of his angst. It is that he is about to enter an unknown phase of his life…that this is all new and he is not prepared. So how do you go about creating your Post Career Lifestyle Plan _TM?

First, it will serve you well too pause and reflect. Clearly describe your character and your life’s purpose. State the endeavors, activities that fulfilled your purpose. Think about the things that are fun and you enjoy doing. Then consider that a fulfilling...

Equanimity Reflects Tranquility - 2021

Buffalo River, ID

Summary:

To Experience Tranquility and Equanimity As a Way of Life…is to Live

When it comes to time, our choices and perceptions, there are three things that differentiates us as individuals:

• How we choose to use the precious time of our lives.
• How those choices reflect the value we attribute to how we use our time.
• How we perceive the speed at which time passes.

As your choices and perceptions are uniquely yours, you can change them. 

Your perception of time and how you experience your life are related to the degree that you have a sense of tranquility and equanimity.

This may not come easily, especially for great achievers. It may require a personal discipline of deliberately practicing your sense of tranquility and equanimity. The goal is to live peacefully in harmony within yourself.

Some things to consider:

• Focus and favor your allocation of time on that which you know is essential to accomplish. 
• ...

Exuberant Expressions - 2009 

Midway Geyser Basin and Firehole River

Yellowstone National Park

Summary:

Fulfill Your Needs and Desires

It is commonly familiar that it is in those quiet moments when our mind is free to wander, that we are the most creative. This simple discipline can be beneficial as you plan your end of career. 

That is when you can create a window of opportunity for creating your roadmap prior to embarking on the next great phase of your life. This is the guide that will take you in the direction that you want your life to go…with confidence.

When the time comes, you will initially find that the time you have at your disposal is seemingly unlimited compared to your previous lifestyle. That can be a fallacy. Like other vacuums, there's a natural tendency for it to be filled. 

Will you create the a la cart menu of your life? Or will you simply react to what life presents you?

To help answer that for yourself, it is useful engage in...

Flowering in Tranquility - 2022

Summary:

Essential Elements of Well-Being

One of the great challenges of life as we know it in the “modern” world, is to live with a feeling of tranquility that favors creativity, well-being and productivity. This, while serving the needs of others.

Beyond that is equanimity. It is a quality, a personal trait that is based on a state of tranquility.

It requires your deliberate, purposeful effort to achieve and nurture it.

How to do so? 

To begin, you must be convicted of its importance and be committed to achieve it.

In this audio, I have some suggestions you may find helpful.

Updated: September 3, 2022

PS: By the way, do you want to learn more from me about how to get the most out of your life now and begin to prepare for your End of Career Transition as well as the next great phase of your life? I would like to help you. I provide consulting and coaching services that are tailored to your specific needs. Click here...

Tenaya Creek and Lake - 2006

Yosemite National Park

Summary

Your Potential and Life’s Panorama

When considering the matter of actualizing your potential, you may reflect on what you have accomplished, a promotion, a career or a title…and rightfully so.

These are laudable achievements that were based on your character, personal qualities, and diligent effort. 

There is, however, a more expansive, dynamic and beneficial perspective that describes the actualization of your evolving potential. One that is based much more on the nature of your character from which your life’s purpose expresses itself. 

This attitude supports your ability to more fully express your character and purpose in diverse ways as you live through the phases of your life.

It is beneficial to you now and as you progress toward your end of career.

For more on this, listen to the audio above.

Updated: Saturday, August 27, 2022

PS: By the way, do you want to learn more from me...

Stability Amidst Change - 2010

The Teton Range

Grand Teton National Park, WY

Summary:

Your Transition Is a Stimulus for Personal Development and Fulfillment

There are two words that are sometimes used interchangeably when discussing the End of Career as though they have the same meaning: change and transition. However, these two words have different meanings and what they describe have distinctly different purposes.

Lessons Learned in My Journey

My personal experience with change and transition illustrates this point. Years ago, I was diagnosed with colon cancer and then developed other medical problems. Together they created a change that ended my Plastic Surgery career and triggered my End of Career Transition. Thankfully, years later I am cured, renewed and fulfilled in my new career. 

My transition did not occur spontaneously. It was the result of sustained, focused and deliberate effort over a period of time.  That effort was directed at a particular envisioned...