According to this article from VolunteerHub, people from age 36 to 54 are the most likely to be consistently volunteering and the hourly value of their time and expertise is noted at nearly $30. Even more importantly, 96% of people who volunteer reported feeling a greater sense of purpose in their life.
The truth is, finding one’s redefined sense of purpose is one of the most difficult – and least talked about – challenges that we face as we move into our retirement years. It impacts our mental focus, our self-worth, and our actual longevity. Bigger than all of this, I want to help you understand that the world needs your time just as much as you need that sense of purpose.
In the workforce, having 25 years of job experience with one company makes most people a precious asset to the organization. Even if you’ve changed companies but worked within an industry, the knowledge gained over so many years can’t be condensed into a few training manuals. Even old skills and information that is no longer relevant still add to the overall experience and lend to soft skills like intuition, deductive reasoning, and creative problem-solving.
The same applies to life in general and it’s a highly underrated conversation. After you’ve spent 50, 70, or 90 years living on this planet, you’ve seen some things that simply can’t be replicated. But the lessons can still be shared and conveyed so that younger generations may learn from your experiences in impactful ways.
Here’s the thing, though. When you were younger looking for work, that’s what you were doing: looking for work. You had to actively find potential employers and apply. Getting work requires active participation. Employers knocking on your door to invite you to their team is quite rare.
And that will be true for whatever you decide to do now as well. If you sit around and wait for someone to ask you to write a book to share your life lessons or ask you to become a mentor, speaker, or consultant in your area of expertise, it truly may never happen. This isn’t an indication that your voice is outdated or your expertise isn’t needed. It’s merely an indication that you need to do the work to put yourself out into the world more actively so that people and organizations know how to find you.
Consider these questions:
What have you learned that your younger self would have benefited from knowing?
What methods of imparting your wisdom appeal to you most?
How much time am I able to contribute to this mission?
Would this work best as a volunteership or as a business?
Where can you find people who would benefit from the things you’ve learned?
How can you get more involved with those people?
If the idea of throwing yourself into something big and new fills you with thoughts of dread and Imposter’s Syndrome – well that’s wonderful news!! Why? Because your fears are telling you that you’ve reached the edge of your comfort zone. And that is where really amazing things can start happening in your life.
Need help with navigating the scary waters just outside of that comfort zone? Grab some time on my calendar and let’s talk about it! Click here to schedule a call with me.
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