The Retirement Detox Program

When disenchantment with retirement turns into depression

If your disenchantment with retirement is starting to turn into depression, check out this fabulous blog post by the magnificent Barbara Sher about an email exchange that she'd had with someone suffering from depression.  It contains extremely good advice!

The 6 stages of retirement

'It's just a stage you're going through...' - how many times have well-meaning friends and family members said that to you over the course of your lifetime? And, as far as retirement is concerned, 'disillusionment and disenchantment' is just one of the stages that most retirees go through. (Check out Mark Cussen's ' 6 stages of retirement' to find out which stage you've reached in the retirement process.)

Of course, problems can occur when you spend too long in the 'disenchantment' stage and feelings of disenchantment start to turn into boredom and dissatisfaction with your life, which can, in turn, lead to full-blown anxiety and depression.

If you feel that you may be suffering from depression, I would urge you to contact your Doctor immediately and get the help you need.  However, if you feel that it's time to give yourself a bit of a shake-up in the 'retirement lifestyle' department, here are some of the ways that I can help:

Sign up for the Retirement Detox blog updates - just scroll up to the top of this page and put your details into the sign-up box on the right to make sure you never miss out on any of our hints, tips, articles and resources.

Buy the Retirement Detox Program eBook - scroll up until you reach the Retirement Detox Program button on the left.  Click on the button and you'll be taken to a page where you can buy the book, safely and securely, using Paypal.  Once your payment has been processed, you will be given the information you need to immediately download your copy of the book.

Come to one of our Retirement Detox Courses - held every month in central Manchester, UK.  Click here for details.

Book a Retirement Detox Coaching Session.  Click here for details.

It's never too late to rescue your retirement from the doldrums and turn it into the retirement you deserve!

Messes and incompletions

Here are some questions that Jack Canfield is using in his new 1-day Success Principles Workshop which you may find useful in your retirement detox endeavours:

1.  What is a mess or incomplete in your life?

2.  How does not completing it affect you?  What does it cost you?

3.  What is the possible benefit of cleaning it up? 

4.  Who could you delegate all or part of the clean-up to?

5.  When will you ask them?

6.  When do you commit to being complete by?

101 painless ways to detoxify your mind, body and home

If you're looking for ways to feel good this summer, have a look at '101 Painless Ways to Detoxify Your Mind, Body, and Home' by Laura Milligan.  (It'll take you all summer to check out all the useful resource links that the article contains.)

Do you need a retirement detox?

Are you struggling with retirement?  It's not uncommon.  Once the 'honeymoon' period is over and reality starts to set in, up to 1 in 5 people can feel that their life is in the doldrums, they're not getting the retirement they deserve and that, if this is all they have to look forward to, they wish they'd never retired in the first place!

If all this sounds horribly familiar to you, don't panic... Use these 10 thought-provoking questions to help give yourself a Retirement Detox:   

1. What do you want more of in your life? (What makes you happy?)

2. What do you want less of? (What bugs you, makes you unhappy or even downright miserable?)

3. What would your ideal retirement look like and how close to that ideal retirement could you get?

4. If this was your last day on earth, how would you spend your time?  What implications does this hold for the way that you spend your time on a daily basis (and who you spend it with)?

5. Which activities do you do that bring you meaning and fulfillment?

6. Which activities do you do that just fill your time without adding anything of value to your life?

7. What do you do that adds structure and a sense of purpose to your days?

8. How do you continue to obtain a sense of achievement and a 'job well done' now that you are retired?

9. Could you come up with a 'bucket list' - a list of 100 things that you still want to be, do and have before you 'kick the bucket'?

10. What single, daily action could you take to ensure that you achieve all the items on your bucket list?  For example, you could make an agreement with yourself that you won't watch TV until after 9pm and spend the time between dinner and 9pm working on your list.  Or you could commit to exercising for an hour a day to maximize your chances of being around long enough to achieve all the items on your list.

These are just ten of the hundreds of thought-provoking questions I ask in my eBook, The Retirement Detox Programme: 40 days to get your retirement back on track.  The eBook is available for just £10 (approximately $20) from my website by clicking the above link.

This is a brilliantly inspiring book that will pep you up and lead you to find the confident, balanced, ordered, joyous and peaceful life that you’ve always wanted.  Margaret Sheridan-Wallis

'I am blown away by this amazing Ebook, so much value for just £10!' Dr Alison Grimston, GP, UK

www.holisticdoctor.typepad.com