Setting Out: Three Mile Lake, an original artwork by Helen Hoy.

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Local author and retirement coach Mariella Hoy has written a book to help people considering retirement to bridge the scary gap between their work life and what they hope to build in retirement: a sense of purpose, passionate activities, warm relationships, well-being, and a feeling of fulfilment.

The book is called Lessons Learned in Retirement: Retiring with Purpose and Passion.

As Hoy says,

Retirement is one of the biggest life-transitions we go through.

It can affect almost everything: how much money we have, our identity, our routines each day, who we see, our sense of purpose, and even when we sleep.

Yet, many of us are unprepared, not understanding how we’ll create well-being and happiness in the next stage of our lives.

In the first year or two of retirement, many people are surprised by the impact of the changes. They may be staggered by feelings of loneliness and depression.

One person was so stressed by retirement that she signed up for stress management classes.

That’s totally understandable. Retirement usually spans 20 to 40 years, a daunting prospect if most of life’s structures and sense of purpose are suddenly gone.

So, it is worth spending some thought on how to create a fulfilling post-work life.

The book focuses on the non-financial aspects of retirement:

• 10 emotional and social challenges faced in retirement
• three components of well-being and happiness
• a retirement coach’s insights from years of work in the field
• tales from those already retired, revealing their challenges and lessons learned
• a light-hearted romp through one man’s life, from before retirement through to 4 years post-retirement
• self-coaching questions that tether the stories and information to your own retirement plans

Hoy spent 14 years immersed in the world of retirement: coaching clients, hosting workshops, researching, and writing.

Now approaching her own retirement, Hoy confesses that she is not immune to the disorientation it can bring. 

The book is available on Amazon.

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source: media release, Mariella Hoy