Living with the decisions we make. Part 1

 

Surfs up Brah

Last weeks post " When it all goes wrong " led me to thoughts on living with our decisions.  Especially dealing with decisions that seem to go wrong.  I also discussed one of the main goals in writing about decisions.  In retirement a number of constraints are removed from your life.  Some new ones are added.  One of the biggest constraints removed is time.  You no longer have the excuse " I cannot do that because I have to work".  For most of us working whether would admit it or not was a big part of our lives.  At the very least it consumed 8 hours of every weekday.  Adding travel time and overtime we could easily consume 10 or mores hours every week day.  Oh, the joy of weekends!

As for new constraints the biggest one retirees face is monetary.  There is only so much money available in retirement.  Pensions are becoming scarcer.  So what you save is what you live on.  A further complication is how long you will live for.  This obviously appears morbid but it is a legitimate factor.  When my wife and I look at our finances and budget life expectancy is always part of the discussion.  If you had a million dollars saved and you were told you were going to live for 30 years you would budget accordingly.  That budget may be quite different if you only lived 10 years.

So how do we feel confident about our decisions.  How do we maintain control of our lives and livelihoods.  After all confidence and control are my main goals in all of this ( The goal of it all ).  It really comes down to being able to live with your decisions regardless of the outcome.  How do we do that?  Here are some ideas.

No surprise that my first suggestion is a high level dare I say "strategic" focus.  I do not have a strategic mindset.  This kind of thinking is difficult for me.  I am more of a tactical thinker.  I am more comfortable planning how to get something accomplished as opposed to what should be accomplished.  However predispositions should not stop us from preforming this important task.  The biggest mistake here is being to specific and too detailed.  This should be a springboard for the more detailed decisions.  My strategic goals at this time are to continue to experience life and leave a better world for my children and grandchildren.

However I do not think I can be entirely comfortable making decisions on just the statement in the previous paragraph.  The stated strategy leads to endless possibilities.  There needs to be some guardrails on our decisions.  This would come in being able to understand ourselves and what truly makes us happy and fulfilled.  The desire to experience life usually implies travel.  I would like to travel.  However I am not one to be frivolous with time or money.  I would not want to travel just for travel sake.  A couple  years ago my wife and I went on a cruise of the Hawaiian Islands.  It was a fantastic trip!  I loved surfing and mountain biking around the volcano.  I especially enjoyed time with my wife.  We met several very nice people.  The experiences were ones I thought I could only dream of having.  I was a little shocked when speaking with one couple who were already planning and booking there next trip.  I remember thinking at the time that it will take me several years to fully appreciate this current trip.  There is no way I could enjoy this trip while planning the next one.

I quite often get labeled as stoic or even a little boring.  I still am going to experience life.  I do have a bucket list of places I would like to visit.  I have yet to see the Grand Canyon.  I still want to leave the world in better shape than when I found it.  If I keep these in mind and accept my guardrails can live with the decisions I make in life.

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