After about 43 years of continuous employment for various organizations, (albeit well paid), I plan to retire from my current employment in 2 weeks.

After having the majority of my waking hours focused on achieving Corporate goals (marching to someone’s else’s tune) what I do or don’t do is about to become very much my own choice.

My Choice

With retirement from regular employment, regardless of whether it was self-employment or for somebody else, the imperative of earning money through your own labors is gone (or should be if you planned appropriately).

The passage of time is inevitable, focusing on enjoying every minute is a choice. In the case of retirement the focus is very much personal choice, which of course is one of the reasons retirement is prized.

Doing nothing could be what you choose or perhaps you have some definite goals relative to things you want to accomplish.   Deciding does not mean you cannot change the approach later but consciously choosing something is key to being satisfied.

Either way (whether the plan is to be idle or active), knowing what your plan is, being clear on what you choose is a critical success factor to enjoying retirement.

Freedom

The key and beauty of being retired is you have the power or right to act, speak, or think as desired without hindrance or restraint.  This is of course not an absolute, but rather a general principal.

One caveat, to be most effective and embrace the freedom you achieve from leaving employment a fiscal foundation is needed (some form of retirement income or nest egg).

With that in place (hopefully through pre-planning before you retire) the choice of freedom is yours.