We were very struck by this reflection in Craig Coben’s piece, Is there life after banking? in last weekend’s FT Weekend Magazine (and also online but behind the FT’s paywall)
“The early days of retirement were disorienting. I’d spent my entire career working towards this moment. Finally, I had financial independence, autonomy, control over my own time. Yet, when it arrived, I wasn’t sure what to do with it. Theoretically, I could do just about anything. “The world’s mine oyster,” as Pistol said in The Merry Wives of Windsor. But prising it open proved more difficult than I’d expected.”
It was that “I wasn’t sure what to do with it” that stood out.
Working with professionals across law, accountancy, and finance, our focus at Milestones is to help them prepare for something that they know is inevitable – as a senior partner in a global law firm once told us, “Everyone has to leave their law firm sooner or later” – but which often rushes towards them rather faster than they expected. Making time for that preparation is rarely high on their list of priorities.
It should be.
Our experience is that although many professionals, like Coben, spend their entire careers working towards this moment, like him they find themselves adrift as the world they knew whizzes past.
So if you’re not sure what to do – and want help to explore what you might do – talk to us. Call Tim Musgrave on 07802 481 124 or Nick Holt on 07802 885 363 to discuss what might come next or email us at contact@careermilestones.com.
As Coben noted, “freedom isn’t about doing everything, but rather choosing what matters most.”