When making changes in life, patience is required. Far too often the newly retired are passive about their new life rather than patient. They wait, wish, and hope for change rather than expending the energy necessary to make the desired change. Resisting change may happen because we have not clearly identified the steps required and the order in which those steps need to be taken. It is easy to become immobilized for fear of making a mistake in a new life phase filled with unknowns. There is a quick remedy: acting and investigating various options and being patient as the path forward unfolds.

If in our lifetime we have adopted passivity as our default reaction to change, it is hard to develop patience. We take no action so there is no seed of change germinating which requires patience to come to fruition. It is far more likely one will complain about the status quo than take action to change it. This passivity leads to disempowered attitudes. Nothing changes if nothing changes.

If your retirement experience is not unfolding the way you would like, honestly assess whether you are stuck because you are unclear about what you truly want or have not identified the path forward. As humans, we are hard-wired to prefer the status quo. Change is never comfortable and often the right decision for our development takes us out of our comfort zone. Start your change journey with the end in mind and create a plan. If you already have a plan and are acting on it, practice patience and know that you will get to where you want to go in the right and perfect time.

Perhaps the most unhelpful action you can take is practicing passivity. When little or no effort is expended to make changes, magical thinking occurs and keeps us stuck wishing rather than doing. Remember, not deciding is deciding.