The Gift Of A Year

I recently read 'The Gift of a Year' by Mira Kirshenbaum. Its subtitle is: 'How to achieve the most meaningful, satisfying and pleasurable year of your life'. It was written to urge and inspire women to take their dreams off the back burner and make them a vital part of their lives by giving themselves a year to do something they've always wanted to do, whether that means undertaking a major challenge or merely taking the time to recharge their batteries.

I came across the book when I was searching for something else on Amazon and it was listed as one of those 'Customers who bought this book also bought...' attempts to get you to spend more money. When I spotted it, my immediate thought was, 'What a fantastic idea for the first year of retirement!' (Retirees often report that they ‘wasted' the first 18 months to 2 years of their retirement just because they were pottering about, finding their feet and generally getting used to the 'one day you're working, the next day you're not', 'drop off a cliff-style' entry into retirement.)

Imagine the first year of your retirement being the 'most meaningful, satisfying and pleasurable year of your life' to date! Wouldn't that just set the scene for an amazing retirement? Especially if you went on to apply the same principles to the next year of your retirement, and the next, and the next...

And what a fantastic cure for an already-established retiree with the 'retirement blues' - the book is definitely going to become recommended reading for my retirement detoxers - male and female. Just imagine what you could achieve if you devoted a full year to yourself and to taking those long-held dreams off the back burner. The year shouldn't be spent doing anything that will impress people or make a massive, positive impact on the world - it just has to make a massive, positive impact on you. It has to be something that you really want (or feel you need) to do for yourself. One year, dedicated to you, to do what you want...

For example, you could spend a year:

travelling around in a motorhome/RV
trialling volunteer opportunities
looking for the perfect retirement business (or setting up your perfect retirement business)
trialling different hobbies - one per month
studying a subject of your choice in depth (and becoming an expert in the process!)
learning more about yourself and what makes you tick
learning more about your family of origin so that you can pass that information on to your grandkids
learning how to make money on the stockmarket
learning how to become a property investor
exploring the world/one country/your state or county/your city
living for 3 months in 4 different places (great if you're exploring your options for where to live in retirement)
getting your house looking exactly the way you want it to
getting your body into shape
improving your health (or researching an existing condition or illness)
trying as many different fitness activities as possible to see which suit you best
writing your autobiography
writing a biography of a family member
making new friends
taking singing lessons (or cookery lessons, or french lessons...) - imagine how much you could learn if you completely immersed yourself in your chosen subject for a year!
or you could just spend a year getting some serious rest, relaxation and extreme self-care...

If I've piqued your interest, get yourself a copy of 'The Gift of a Year'- it's a good read and will give you plenty of ideas and food for thought whether you're male or female and whether you're ready to retire or nowhere near retirement age. You can even use the ideas in the book if you can't afford to take a year off from work.