Self Improvement

"What do you want to achieve in your life after teaching? What will your life be like when you have created that? How will you hold yourself accountable for keeping focussed on it?" Three big, soul searching questions - and ones that are worth looking at. They might look slightly scary. Very scary in fact. And also exciting, because they are all within your control. You get to decide what your life as a retired teacher will look like, you have choice, you are in control, you can create your dream.

"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars." Les Brown

So here are those three big questions again

1. What do you want to achieve in your life after teaching?

What's your teachers retirement plan? What do you want to leave behind? What will make your heart sing? What do you want life after teaching to be like? What have you dreamed of doing but never dared? What new skills do you want to learn? You get to decide.

"One half of knowing what you want is knowing what you must give up before you get it." Sidney Howard

2. What will your life be like when you have created that?

What will be the impact on your home life and your personal relationships? How will it affect your current work? What fears will you have let go of? How will you be different? What other impacts will the changes have made? What new steps will you have taken to making your retirement plan come to life? You get to choose.

"The important thing is to strive towards a goal which is not immediately visible. That goal is not the concern of the mind, but of the spirit." Antoine de Saint-Exupery

3. How will you hold yourself accountable for keeping focused on it?

What do you already know about yourself that will hold you back? Who can help you keep your retirement plan on track? Who else do you need to tell? What kind of check-in processes do you want to create? How do you plan to celebrate your successes as you go along? You get to be in control.

BIG RETIREMENT TIP - you don't need to do it all on your own. Ask for help. Get other people involved. Talk to them about your hopes and fears.

If you need help with these questions here are some ideas:-

• Ask your head, your union or the HR department about pre-retirement courses, book a place and GO.
• If no one else will pay for you then invest in yourself. If you think they're too expensive compare how much you might spend on a night out, a holiday or a new suit. Will those things last you for 30 years? That's how long your retirement may last.
• Buy a book about retirement, read it and follow the advice in it - you'll find a good list to get you started on my website, or browse Amazon and read the reviews. Caution - check that the book you are buying isn't targeted at readers in another country and full of advice about pensions and retirement communities that is not relevant.
• Talk to retired teachers and ask them what they struggled with and how they came to terms with it. Around 30% are likely to have found the move to retirement challenging.
• Find a qualified retirement coach. They're specially trained to help you to manage the transition from work to retirement. They'll help you to think about leaving work, finding a new purpose, being with loss, creating an encore career, planning your time, creating new friendships and making your retirement sing. Many work by telephone, some offer group coaching as well as one-to-one. Some also run pre-retirement courses using coaching skills and tools - you won't just be sitting in a chair listening to someone speak, you'll be creating your dream in the course!

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Tilla Brook is a qualified life coach who works with teachers taking early retirement, planning their retirement strategy or wondering why life after work isn't all they hoped it would be, to create a retirement that's "The Best Bit Yet". You can contact her for a free consultation about retirement courses and coaching at tilla @ teachersretirementcoaching.com. http://www.teachersretirementcoaching.com