“I spent my younger years doing what I was told to, my adult years doing what I had to… My golden years are for what I want to do!”

There is a whole generation of people who have this exact same sentiment. It’s the way it was…the way it has been for a very long time…and yet…
There is a whole NEW generation of people who are figuring out how to do what they want to do NOW while they are doing what they have to do in order to accomplish those “golden” opportunities.
It’s a whole new way of looking at the world – and it’s awesome!
Imagine…living for the week AND for the weekend because you are doing work you love while you are living a life that Lights You. Up!
Now, if you are currently in a job that’s not suited to your talents, sleepwalking through your week, then you may be wondering how you can possibly do what you want to do rather than trudge through another day of something you have to do.
It’s actually pretty easy because you have at least two choices:

First, you have the power to change how you feel about the work you do. I know, some occupations can seem, well, sort of boring or unimportant. But every person walking this earth is important. Has a purpose. Has the ability to change something, or someone, in small and big ways.
In fact, just this week I heard about a man who shines shoes for a living. He touched the life of his customer and when his story was shared, touched the lives of countless others.
What happened?
Something simple.
The shoeshine man asked his customer, “How are you doing?” to which the customer answered, “I’m good…how about you?”
Now, what the shoeshine man said next was simple. He won’t be receiving any sort of honor or award…in fact, he most likely didn’t think twice about the words that fell from his lips. He said:
“I’m Fantastic! Why would I choose anything else?”
Wow! Think about that…why CHOOSE anything else?
Second, you have the ability to choose something different for your life…right now. You don’t have to wait until some pre-determined date on your work calendar. You don’t have to wait for a gold watch (do they still give those?!)
You CAN make your “Now” years your “Golden” years.
Really! How?
If you’re in the wrong job then figure out what you need to change that. If you’re living in the wrong location, figure out what you would have to do to relocate. If you’re not surrounded with people who support your goals and inspire you to become the best person you can be, choose to surround yourself with different people.
Now, here’s the fun part!
If there is someplace you want to travel, something you want to learn how to do, or some activity you want to cross off of your bucket list…why wait until AFTER….
- After the kids are grown;
- After you have more money;
- After you have more time;
- After you find the man/woman of your dreams;
- After you retire;
- After (you fill in the blank)…

In fact, why “retire” at all? Maybe, we should all focus more on “re-calibrating” over and over and over again! Small adjustments as you journey through life.
Hmmmm….I’ll have to think on that one…
In the meantime, what kinds of things do folks wait to do until they “retire” and live their Golden Years. Take a look at this list, curated from various articles, and then I encourage you to grab one and go for it….or add a few of your own!
Ideas of What To Do When You “Retire”
Warning: Do Not Wait Until you Retire Because Tomorrow is Promised to No-one!
- Live within your means
- Travel the World
- Live in a Foreign Country
- Buy or rent a motor home
- Visit every National Park
- Explore every major league baseball stadium
- Move to the country
- Move to the city
- Start the business you always wanted
- Get a part-time job


- Go into public service
- Spend time with friends
- Visit family more often
- Babysit
- Become a mentor
- Go back to school and learn something new
- Write a book
- Read books
- Start a blog
- Learn a new language
- Learn to play a musical instrument
- Start a new hobby
- Take up a new sport
- Downsize your life
- Go fishing
- Go whitewater rafting
- Hike the Appalachian trail
- Hike every nature trail within a 2-hour radius


- Go Canoeing
- Go kayaking
- Go Surfing
- Go Stand-up Paddle Boarding
- Get in shape
- Learn to scuba-diving
- Fly a kite
- Learn to juggle
- Go Kitesurfing
- Draw / Paint pictures
- Create ceramics
- Volunteer at an animal shelter
- Sell your crafts online or at local shows
- Become a master gardener
- Go sailing
- Go hiking
- Go cycling
- Have a lot of sex while your body is still in full working order
- Do yoga (that may help with the one above!)
- Fix cars
- Fix motorcycles
- Play golf
- Go fishing
- Go fishing in Alaska
- Learn to fly fish


- Write a memoir
- Make a quilt
- Record family memories
- Discover and record your family tree
- Cultivate bonsai trees
- Create an organic garden
- Raise chickens
- Become a beekeeper
- Learn to cook
- Learn to cook, better
- Sleep in a castle
- Visit New Zealand
- Ride an elephant
- Watch the whale migration
- Watch sea turtles hatch
- Beach Bonfire
- Attend the Olympics
- Bathe in Milk
- Wear something sexy


- Fly an airplane
- Drive a race car
- Own a race horse
- Climb a lighthouse
- Bring clean water to a town that has none
- Build a school
- Teach a child
- Do random acts of kindness daily
- Carve a pumpkin
- Go whale watching
- Golf at Pebble Beach
- Go to Niagara Falls
- Hike the Grand Canyon
- Hike the John Muir Trail
- Like a big city of your choice for at least 3 months
- Go to the Super Bowl
- Parasail
- Give away a million dollars
- Read one book a week for a year
- Walk the Great Wall of China
- Go to a drive-in movie theatre
- See Mt. Rushmore
- See the Grand Canyon
- Spend the night under the stars in the desert
- Go deep sea fishing
- Go to a sumo wrestling match
- Eat with chopsticks…in Japan
- Meet someone famous
- Ride a train
- Send a message in a bottle
- Plan a tree
- Learn to ballroom dance
- Learn to shag
- Stand in a waterfall…naked
- Swim with the dolphins
- Pet a manta ray
- Be an extra in a film
- Skydive


- Set a special table for an everyday dinner
- Eat seafood in Maine
- Have Thanksgiving in one of the original 13 colonies
- Camp in a Teepee
- Hike the Tahoe Rim Trail
- Join a club
- Start a club
- Read for children at the library
- Teach other what you’ve learned
- Volunteer your time and give back
- Run ultramarathons
- Become a martial arts black belt
- Win an amateur bodybuilding championship
- Coach soccer
- Swim across a large body of water
- Throw on a pottery wheel
- Learn to Sculpture


- Learn photography
- Join a band
- Sing
- Study interior design
- Create a comic book
- Knit / Crochet
- Needlepoint
- Design and make clothing / furniture / something else
- Stay in a 5-star hotel
- Ride a gondola in Venice
- Get a tattoo
- Be on a game show
- Go treasure hunting
- Photograph surfing event in Hawaii
- Drive through a redwood tree
- Be debt free
- Take the Polar Plunge
- Write, produce and/or direct a film
- Learn woodworking
- Throw more parties


- Write more letters
- Join or start a book club
- Go on more picnics
- Meditate
- Make a pilgrimage
- Read the classics
- Write a classic
- Play chess
- Open a coffee shop
- Open a bar
- Learn archery
- Go to a yoga retreat
- Drink a $500 bottle of wine/champagne
- Take a mud bath
- Visit Norway
- Stay in an Ice Hotel
- Go to the Cannes Film Festival
- Eat your way through Sicily
- Visit the sacred volcano Mount Merapi in Central Java
- Ride an Indian/Harley Motorcycle across country


- Ride in a helicopter
- See Andrea Bocelli in Italy
- See the Acropolis in Greece
- Build a boat
- Live on a boat
- Build a log cabin
- Live in the mountains
- Watch birds
- Become an amateur astronomer
- Stand in every continent: North America, South America, Asia, Europe, Australia, Antartica and Africa
- Ride in a Hot Air Balloon
- Drive across the United States
- Hike across Spain
- Take a cooking class in your favorite country
- Go snow skiing
- Travel on an African safari
- Ride a bull
- Go to a Pow-wow
- Ride a cable care in San Francisco

Eat better
Take more walks
Have more talks
Take time to think
Take time to pray
Take time to laugh
Take time to Love
