My upbringing was based on the premise that a good education leads to a good job which leads to a happy retirement.
Because of this I break life down into three phases:
- Education. Our families instill values, socialisation and language. We go to school/universities to learn the social and academic skills to succeed in the next phase.
- Career and Family. Creating a family is a genetic imperative and as soon as we leave phase one we are looking to aquire the resources to create a family which we do via our careers. A career is simply the path we choose to earn money, so it can range from a lifetime in one company to starting your own business and anything in between.
- Retirement. I define this as the point where you are financially able to stop work.
The transition from Education to Career/Family can be testing but there are fewer responsibilites which, combined with youthful exuberance, carries most people through.
The really hard transition is into retirement. The part I have never got to grips is what on earth do you do when you stop work? The first month is easy; spend more time doing the things you enjoy.