I retired in January 2016. Not knowing what I wanted to do in my retirement, I began speaking to colleagues who had already retired and were really enjoying themselves. Their stories were so fascinating that I ended up interviewing close to 100 people from all walks of life, from coast to coast, in Canada and the US. After the interviews, I analyzed their stories, did further research, and published Life 3.0: Protirement NOT Retirement. The book tells the story of how Baby Boomers have reinvented retirement and why I renamed retirement “Protirement”. Protirement is simply defined as doing what is fulfilling in the third chapter of our lives.
Protirement is no longer a destination like a retirement had been for previous generations. It has now become the third chapter of our life and depending on when we protire and how long we live, we may live up to a third of our lives in protirement. Yes, a third of our lives. Therefore, it is very important to be active and doing what we really want to do during these years.
I developed a Protirement Checkerboard with 17 protirement activities that people choose from to develop their protirement lifestyles. These Checkerboards are constantly changing during Protirement. My initial Protirement Checkerboard included being a researcher, writer and public speaker. Once I finished writing the book and did the speaking circuit, I began looking for other protirement activities to add. Taking the advice of the 100 people that I interviewed, I began looking for opportunities to do what I was passionate about: being a change agent in the not-for-profit sector.
I knew at this point in my life, I did not want to set up my own consulting firm but I did want to consult and help not-for-profits who were experiencing challenges. That is when I was introduced to The Osborne Group. I quickly found out that The Osborne Group was where I belonged, how I could offer my expertise to the not-for-profit sector within a team environment. Osborne is a multi-functional team of experts who leverage their collective wisdom and contacts. Everyone on its team has 20 or more years of varied business, non-profit or public-sector experience in at least 2 organizations, as well as 8 or more years at the executive level.
During the past three and a half years, I have worked with a variety of organizations assisting them with strategic plans, organizational development, and interim leadership. It is now time for me to move onto other Protirement activities as I say goodbye to all of my Osborne colleagues and clients. Thank you for contributing so many fond memories to the first phase of my Protirement life. If you are looking for a consulting firm to assist your agency, or a consulting firm to join, have a serious look at The Osborne Group. You won’t be disappointed.
As I prepare to leave The Osborne Group, I am revising my Protirement Checkerboard. It now includes other Protirement activities like travel, painting, time with family (3 great kids and 3 amazing grandchildren) and being a volunteer advisor with CESO (Canadian Executive Service Organization). A new protirement activity that my wife and I are launching this coming fall will be a podcast series, focused on all the interesting questions of life that challenge our world.
Protirement is a time to keep active, follow your passions and your dreams. The Osborne Group has played an important part in my Protirement life. It is now time to follow other passions.
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” – Buckminster Fuller
“Protirement is the new model of Retirement!” – Ellis Katsof
