TL:DR – Alea talks about the part of your personal narrative many people do not work on. 

Framing 2024 and beyond….

The end of the year brings annual news from friends and family in holiday cards and other forms of outreach.  To frame this for you,  I have always been the youngest of my cohort and family, so as my friends and former co-workers age I have been seeing illness, loss and shifts into near retirement, retirement and into care situations.

It has been an eye opener, especially talking to those in their 70s who are recently retired and trying to find their footing in their new stage of life.  To be blessed with old age is not just about discussing failing body parts, dying family members and how things used to be, but dealing with over dependent adult offspring and diving deeper into hobbies and interests, as well as showing off points of lifetime pride.

Because you no always longer identify with a work field or a production oriented occupation, your sense of identity is tied to other things – all different ways to frame and connect your contribution to the rest of society. 

But then I have a good friend who announced to me before the holidays that she has terminal cancer.  She is not coping in terms of getting her head around it, which is fully understandable.   But one of her reactions is really odd – she is selling parts of her living room online on her regional Facebook marketplace. As we are connected, I am watching this with a bit of dismay, as she nickels and dimes her life into different lots – bookcases, ornaments, sporting goods, etc.   I cannot imagine with a limited time left in life that I would be concerned about selling my collection of ornaments for Euro 30.

But we all have a limited time in life (hint: read Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman) – which led to my big Ah-Ha of the holiday period.

If not now, when?    

It kicked off an number of things I have been doing this holiday period.   Things I meant to do for quite a while.   I have been using Pomodoro techniques this last week to make small shifts on the bigger items.

But it got me to thinking about how you frame the last part of your personal narrative.   Most of us do not recognize this aspect of the journey, we are too focused on the front end and the growth stage.   What happens when it is time to harvest?

How do you want to frame where you are at the tail end of the journey?

I read a former colleague complaining about his current situation after his own company got acquired.   I privately wondered why he then stayed, assuming the payout for the business was decent and there was no clause for him to remain. But I suspect he did not think about the next step in his personal narrative and was too connected to the business he developed.

Most of us have the forward momentum to move our way through the majority of our working life, repositioning as necessary as we reinvent ourselves on a regular basis.

But towards the end of the ride, what do you want to be positioned for doing in the ‘now’?

I was watching a double bill yesterday of Barbra Streisand movies on BBC from when she was in her late 20s (magnificent!).  She is now 81 and still going, but has shifted her contributions regularly to include other elements.  Upon the release of her book My Name Is Barbra on November 7, 2023, her BBC interview concluded with Streisand claiming she wanted “to have more fun” in life.

Can most of us say the same?

So how are you framing the latter stages of your personal narrative?  

I hit a big birthday this next calendar year, and as I am a sports person I hit it unofficially in two days on 1 January (although still several months before the actual event).  I have to admit that it is on my mind in both my career decisions and my personal choices.   To age is a blessing as not everyone gets to do it.   With what style and grace you do it is your choice. 

I challenge you to think about how you want to go out (singing and dancing, or quietly, stage left) and any good advice or articles on how you frame the latter part of your personal narrative.  Let me know in the comments below what you have found.