🟢 I’m Not Retired Yet, But I'm Already Becoming Who I Want To Be.

I’m almost 50.

Retirement isn’t close enough to feel urgent, but it’s close enough to feel real.

And lately, I’ve been thinking less about when it will happen, and more about who I want to be when it does.

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🧭 A shift in how I see what’s ahead

For a long time, I thought of retirement as something you arrive at.

You work and you save until you hit that magic number.

And then one day, you step into this new phase and figure it out from there.

But the people I admire most didn’t wait for that moment.

They were already becoming that version of themselves long before they got there.

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🌱 Learning from people who are already living it

I’ve been having more intentional conversations with people who are living this stage of life in a way that feels meaningful.

I’ve been coaching Deborah since January and she inspires me! She has a natural ability to see the potential in others. She makes people feel safe, capable, and seen.

As she thinks about semi-retirement, she isn’t focused on what she’s leaving behind.

She’s asking, “How do I keep using who I am to help people, just in a different way?”

I love that question!

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💡 A different picture of retirement

I’ve also been reflecting on people like Eric Rajah.

Through A Better World Canada, he’s helped thousands of people both globally and in his own community.

There’s energy in the way he shows up. A sense of purpose that hasn’t faded, it’s expanded.

It doesn’t look like an ending.

It looks like a new level of impact!

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✨ What this is changing for me

I now see this next chapter of life differently.

Not as a time to step away from contribution, but as a chance to step more fully into it.

Where experience and perspective don’t fade into the background, but become the foundation for something more meaningful.

I don’t know exactly what that will look like yet.

But I don’t think I’m supposed to.

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🔗 Why I’m starting now

Right now, I still have the structure of full-time work around me.

Which means I can explore without pressure.

I can test ideas. Have conversations. Pay attention to what energizes me.

Take small steps toward something I don’t fully have defined yet.

Not because I have to.

Because I GET to.

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🌿 If this is on your mind too

This isn’t just about retirement or semi-retirement.

It’s about any point in life where something is shifting and you have the opportunity to shape what comes next instead of waiting for it to arrive.

That’s the work I’ve been doing, both personally and with the people I support through coaching, workshops, and my upcoming book, Designing Your Second Act.