Question to recalibrate your compass:

Do you need to reframe retirement?

The Wall Street Journal released a visual breaking down how people spend their time in retirement.

The visual shows that the majority of a retiree's time is spent on sleeping (9 hours), relaxing and leisure (6 hours), and watching television (4.5 hours). Very little time is spent on reading (0.5 hours), socializing (0.5 hours), or exercise/recreation (0.3 hours).

Most of us create this idyllic image of what retirement will look like, but the reality is (likely) much different.

My proposed solution: We need to reframe retirement.

The traditional concept of retirement is grounded in a foundational assumption that there should be a "before and after" within your life—that you grind away for years and years in the before and then get to enjoy the after.

I believe this foundational assumption is broken.

There needn't be a before and after within your life—it can all be fluid, a during.

The goal is to design a life that you don't need to retire from.

A life that has the freedom to balance fulfilling work with the relationships, hobbies, experiences, and pursuits through which you derive joy.

So, do you need to reframe the end goal? Do you need to reframe retirement?

Quote on changing your mind:

"The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life." ― Muhammad Ali

Changing your mind is a software update that improves upon the old.

Embrace the updates.

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Framework for thinking BIG:

The Cathedral Effect

In 2007, researchers from Oxford published a study that found that ceiling height impacted creativity and focus. Specifically, higher ceilings promoted creative problem solving, while lower ceilings promoted logical problem solving.

These results were later confirmed by an experiment that took fMRI scans of participants' brains as they were shown images of high or low ceiling spaces. The parts of their brains that lit up while looking at high ceiling spaces were those used for broad exploration.

A design writer named William Lidwell coined the phrase Cathedral Effect to capture the phenomenon whereby big, tall spaces promote creative, abstract, exploratory behavior.

Interestingly, I've experienced this sensation well before I knew anything about the science to support it. The below excerpt is from a piece I wrote with reflections from a retreat I co-hosted in February:

Learning 1: If you want to think bigger, get in bigger spaces.

Your environment creates your entire reality. When you spend time in big, open, inspiring spaces, your mind becomes big, open, and inspired.

I don’t know how it happens, but within minutes of arriving, staring out at the grand expanse of the ocean, seeing the beautiful villa, and breathing the fresh air, everyone independently mentions feeling inspired to think big.

If you’re feeling stuck (on a project, or in life), go outside for a short walk in nature, spend a day at the beach, get yourself into a big, open, bright space. I guarantee your entire mindset will shift.

Big spaces catalyze big thinking.

As it turns out, the Cathedral Effect is the science that supports my assertion. Big spaces really do catalyze big, creative thinking.

My recommendation: Once a quarter, carve out a day to place yourself in a large, open space. Think big about your future, question your assumptions, and be bold.

P.S. If you're interested in attending a future Inflection Retreat, feel free to populate the form here.

Poem on the shortness of life:

I recently came across this beautiful poem by Emily Dickinson.

Life is shorter and more fragile than you realize (even when you account for that statement). Embrace what is within your power to control, and forget what remains outside of it.

Random fun for the weekend:

​The Joy Generator​

This is some good, clean fun: A tool from NPR that hits you with random bits of delight to brighten your day.

Highly recommend taking a few minutes to enjoy (and sharing with a friend).

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