At this middle age you might have thought about what you will become in 10 years, 20 years, even when you retire. However, for some people, they might just simply lead a life without a clear direction even if they are nearing their retirement age.

Many Baby Boomers are working long and hard in stress-filled jobs. After 20-plus years laboring in the same industry, performing the same duties day in and day out, they have gradually lost the passion they once had for their career. In a “flight or fright” response, they are reflexively expressing a desire to retire early and rid themselves of their daily toil.

This knee-jerk desire to tell their boss to “take this job and shove it” often occurs due to a lack of purpose and passion in their everyday life. Perhaps, rather than trying to retire at the age of “50 something”, these frustrated workers should instead consider redesigning their work life such that it aligns with their core values. In doing so, they may find work to be a source of pleasure and excitement as opposed to a continued source of stress. Their physical health may improve too, as studies show that continuing to work later in life can significantly improve physical and mental well-being.

This blog was inspired by a presentation given by Randy Gardner, JD, LLM, MBA, CPA, CFP(R) at the 19th annual Garrett Planning Network retreat which I recently attended. Mr. Gardner emphasized that many retirement plans, especially early retirement plans, fail because the retiree does not have his or her “next step” configured.

A retiree’s ext step— Ask what am I retiring to?

A good question to ask oneself prior to retirement is, “what am I retiring to?” It is extremely helpful to envision a typical day, week, month in retirement. How will you fill your day? What is your purpose or passion? And, better yet, why can’t you instill that passion in your workplace today?

An early retirement can be hazardous to your health.

Gardner also cited research that suggests that an early retirement may be hazardous to your health, as calling it quits early is highly correlated to an increased risk of heart attacks as well as Alzheimer’s and dementia.

In a study by the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s college, London, researchers found that keeping the brain active later in life reduce the chances of an early onset of Alzheimer’s. In fact, there was a significant link between late retirement and delayed symptoms. The researchers found no link between education or employment and dementia risk, but found that those who retired later prolonged their mental abilities above the threshold for dementia.

Furthermore, mortality rates increase with a reduction in the retirement age.

In a study out of the University of Zurich researchers found that a reduction in the retirement age causes a significant increase in the risk of premature death – defined as death before age 67—particularly for males. According to the study, one additional year of early retirement, causes an increase in the risk of premature death of 2.4 percentage points.

Losing daily structure can lead to boredom, and chronic boredom is bad for your health.

Experts purport that the root cause of declining health in retirement is due to a lack of purpose. Having a long and successful career provides structure for the week and gives us all a reason to get out of bed in the morning. Losing that structure can lead to boredom, and chronic boredom is bad for your health.

In addition to these non- financial risks, the risk of longevity, increased taxation, legislative changes to entitlement programs, and poor market returns can hamper a retiree’s ability to receive adequate lifelong income.

Plus, let’s face it; the math of an early retirement can be daunting. It is hard to work for 30 years and live off of your savings for possibly the next 50 years.  There is a good chance that you will need to downscale your lifestyle in order to make your assets last.

How can a generation of burnt out Boomers respond to these ongoing pangs for an early retirement?

“Purpose perhaps is more important than exercise.”

Rather than retire early, Gardner suggests that burnt-out workers instead instill purpose in their lives. In fact, he believes that purpose is “perhaps more important than exercise.” Frustrated workers of all ages owe it to themselves to design a career that engages them in the things that they are passionate about. Since only 20% of workers find their jobs to be engaging, they need to commit to strategies that improve their work responsibilities and environment.

Mr. Gardner recommends that people engage in “job-crafting.” Job-crafting is the process of redesigning your job in order to engage in tasks, relationships, and intellectual pursuits that engage, excite and interest you.

Here are some tips I put together based on the job crafting concept that will hopefully help you get started in creating your purposeful career and life.

Find out which tasks you enjoy and try to incorporate them into your work.

If you would like to write, start a blog or newsletter for your company or industry. If you enjoy working in a team or competitive environment, see if there is an opportunity to join a task force in your company. If you enjoy working with your hands to create things, start a small business that allows you to do this or add these activities to your weekend to do list. During your vacations, engage in the pursuits that energize you. This will refresh you when you return to work.

Determine which relationships are most important to you and try to build these within your work day

It could mean that you need more time with peers whom you work with, or perhaps, you crave a connection with a more experienced mentor.  You may need a study group or network of people outside your company but within your trade or industry to connect with. Increasing these connections can make you feel part of a larger group and also help you build bridges with colleagues across the country.

You may crave relationships that are outside of the workplace during the week, so you should take the time to meet with friends for lunch or dinner after work in order to get a break from the people you work with every day.

Maybe you work by yourself in a home office and you need to be more intentional about getting out and connecting with other professionals like yourself. The point is that with some soul searching, you can identify the things that frustrate you about your job and try to refine them so that they work for you.

Although I am a solo practitioner, I really value the relationships I have built over the years with other financial planners and industry professionals I have met through the Garrett Network. They make me feel like I am not alone and less isolated. I connect and engage with them through webinars, study groups, and our annual meeting.

Re-engineering your work functions could give you a renewed perspective.

Finally, we are driven by curiosity and intellect toward various careers or pursuits; periodically we need to be stimulated to nurture our creativity and sharpen our intuitive skills. Performing our job functions in the same way day in and out can make our skills stale. Re-engineering your work functions can give you a renewed perspective. Mentoring a younger employee new to the organization may also provide you with a fresh outlook on your job as well as foster camaraderie.

Complete This “Passion” Exercise

In order to create you ideal career and personal life, I encourage you to:

• Create long list of all of the things that you are passionate about. Compile this for all the areas of your life.
• Pick the top ten things you are most passionate about from the list
• Ask yourself—why do I enjoy this pursuit? Mr. Gardner encourages people to be as specific and exhaustive about what aspects of their passions they enjoy, as opposed to focusing on the activities themselves.  This particular step can provide rich insight into what really excites us and makes us tick.
• Create a long term plan to infuse your life with elements from your passion list. We tend to get bogged down in short term thinking, which can make us irrational and depressed when we don’t reach our goals quickly. People who are able to think and plan longer term tend to be more optimistic about their situation. In short, create a plan for the next few decades as opposed to the next 365 days.

A valuable tool I recommend to my clients which helps them identify their passions, is the Highlands Ability Battery test. Its premise is that the skills or abilities that come naturally to you, tend to be the ones that you enjoy. The function of the Highlands Ability Battery test is to define each of your abilities and then determine the patterns or “clusters” into which they fall. Armed with this knowledge, individuals are able to avoid stress and achieve satisfaction with work.

Finally, remember that some stress can be a good thing. Stress is a necessary emotion and intermittent stressful events are probably what keep the brain more alert and enable you to perform better. Here is a related article on how successful people manage their stress.

Don’t plan your retirement to fail; instead, plan for passion. Not only will your work seem like play, but it will also help you achieve the financial independence you now crave.