Transcript
Speaker: Retirement.
Speaker: That's what we're all aiming at, right?
Speaker: But exactly what does that mean?
Speaker: It conjures up visions of endless days of golf, drinks with little umbrellas in them on a tropical beach, feet up reading a book.
Speaker: Is that what it's all about?
Speaker: I don't think so.
Speaker: Life would get pretty dull after a while without anything meaningful to do, don't you think?
Speaker: I'm Jackie Doucette, and I'm on a mission to discover exactly what life is like beyond retirement.
Speaker: Join me while I chat with people who've already done it, who've retired to something rather than from something.
Speaker: Let's find out together exactly what's waiting for us when we say goodbye to that 9 to 5.
Speaker: Hi everyone, welcome to episode 263 of Beyond Retirement.
Speaker: As you heard in the intro, I'm Jackie Doucette, and I've been your host through the past five seasons.
Speaker: I thought today I'd take a few moments to talk about why I started this podcast and how I feel it's gone over the five seasons.
Speaker: I don't know if you've listened to all the episodes or any of them other than this one, but I began this journey when I was starting to plan my own retirement.
Speaker: I was interested in finding out more about what to do in retirement, where to go, what I should plan for, what other people were doing, things like that.
Speaker: I couldn't find much online that talked about anything other than financial planning for retirement.
Speaker: And I figured if I was looking for something else, other people probably were too.
Speaker: So I started the podcast to chronicle my search and discovery mission.
Speaker: As it turns out, many people were looking.
Speaker: And today there are lots of online resources for people who are looking for help with the non-financial aspects of retirement planning and retirement life.
Speaker: Who knew it would grow so rapidly in only a few years?
Speaker: The podcast changed over the years.
Speaker: Funny thing, the show intro changed along the way too.
Speaker: As I go along today, hopefully you'll see how the changes fit with my theme each season.
Speaker: I started out with solo episodes, just my musings and ramblings about what was on my mind.
Speaker: Hi, and thanks for tuning in to Beyond Retirement.
Speaker: And this is where you'll learn how to gain the freedom you figured retirement would bring you.
Speaker: Each week, I'll be discussing different topics related to having the life you want.
Speaker: I don't pretend to have all the answers, so sometimes I'll have a guest who knows more than I do about a particular topic.
Speaker: For now, just sit back, relax, and let me lead you on your journey to freedom.
Speaker: Things like, what do I have to do to get ready for retirement?
Speaker: What do I need to learn about this new stage?
Speaker: I talked about where I was heading through the idea of side hustles to make some extra money, to what to do with aging parents and adult kids moving back home just when you thought you were going to be free.
Speaker: Then life changed a bit, and I began thinking about a different road.
Speaker: What if I were to move away from the 9-to-5 world and into the world of entrepreneurship instead of the traditional retirement?
Speaker: Instead of planning a scaled-down life of lower costs and more free time, what if I looked at building a business and being my own boss?
Speaker: Would others be interested in that?
Speaker: Do you often wonder whether there's more to life than your 9-to-5 job?
Speaker: Do you dream about having a life that has no boundaries, where you can decide what to do and where to do it?
Speaker: And does the thought of how to get that life maybe overwhelm you just a little bit?
Speaker: Then this is the podcast for you.
Speaker: Join me as I uncover how to get that freedom and live a life that needs no retirement plan.
Speaker: I'll be scouring the internet and chatting with people from all walks of life who are out there living life to the max instead of punching a time card.
Speaker: I'm Jackie Bousset, and this is Beyond Retirement.
Speaker: And season two was born, partway through season one, complete with a bunch of guests who'd made that shift, people who had walked away from corporate life in favor of being their own bosses.
Speaker: There were many interesting conversations in season two, like how to make that transition.
Speaker: Do you burn the boats, as Jamie Atkinson suggested?
Speaker: Or wait till somebody takes away your choice and your job, like what happened to Craig Aronson?
Speaker: Lots of things to think about.
Speaker: I had a lot of fun in season two because alongside all of those interviews with entrepreneurial souls, I also continued my own journey of self-reflection and discovery with the season one solo episodes.
Speaker: So by the end of the year, I had over a hundred episodes, but two episodes a week, which is what I was doing, was way too much for me.
Speaker: Since I had enough episodes to say I'd completed two full seasons, two full years of weekly shows,
Speaker: I decided to start season three, going back to one show a week.
Speaker: And since guest interviews were way easier to do than solo episodes, I chose to continue with guests.
Speaker: Retirement.
Speaker: That's a fuzzy place somewhere in the future for many people.
Speaker: Do we have to retire?
Speaker: How do we prepare for it?
Speaker: Will we really be free?
Speaker: And what does that mean exactly?
Speaker: I'm going to answer these questions and more as I travel the road.
Speaker: I'll cover different topics related to having the life you want.
Speaker: I don't pretend to have all the answers, so sometimes I'll have a guest who knows more than I do about a particular subject.
Speaker: I'm Jackie Doucette, and this is Beyond Retirement.
Speaker: to sit back, relax, and let me lead you on a journey to freedom.
Speaker: I decided to focus more on people who are doing things to help others lead better lives because I thought this sort of information might be useful to people heading towards retirement.
Speaker: In season four, I decided to focus on specific themes that I felt were related to activities in retirement.
Speaker: So I was looking for guests who had messages related to confidence, freedom, generosity, or planning.
Speaker: That change was good for me as it helped me decide among the myriad guests that were pitching themselves or being pitched to me.
Speaker: As an aside, I have to say I have never had a problem getting guests, and I want to thank all of you who've helped me out by suggesting possible guests to me.
Speaker: It's been great being introduced to so many amazing, interesting people.
Speaker: By the end of season four, I was starting to wonder if I would keep going.
Speaker: I didn't feel like I'd hit the mark with the show.
Speaker: It still wasn't what I had envisioned at the start.
Speaker: But I received a lot of encouragement from listeners who told me they enjoyed the show and found the topics interesting.
Speaker: And having people reach out to me for coaching support has been very gratifying.
Speaker: I appreciate the trust that people have put in me, and I decided to head into season five.
Speaker: This time, I focused even more on people who had a message that could be applied directly to some phase or facet of retirement, like how to cope with the changes that come with retirement, or how to stay or get healthy and fit as you age, and how to prepare yourself and your loved ones for the hard conversations around end of life.
Speaker: I think this season has been the most eye-opening for me, and I want to say thank you to all of my guests.
Speaker: They each shared a valuable piece of themselves with us, a piece of their life and experiences with the goal to enrich our lives through that sharing.
Speaker: And that is what I was trying to do with the show from the start, give you something that enriches your life a bit.
Speaker: I hope you found that in one of the 260 plus episodes.
Speaker: and I would love to hear from you if you learned something significant along the way.
Speaker: Of course, you can also write to me and tell me that you didn't learn anything at all and my show was a waste of time.
Speaker: At least I know you've listened.
Speaker: Seriously, I'm really grateful to all of my listeners, especially those of you who have taken the time to reach out to me.
Speaker: You're what's kept me going this long.
Speaker: I started my journey before retirement, and now I'm retired.
Speaker: It wasn't a straight path, and I still have a long road ahead of me, I hope.
Speaker: But it's been fun so far, and the plans I have for the next few months have me really excited.
Speaker: So, what have I learned on my journey, and what's on the horizon for Beyond Retirement?
Speaker: I'm afraid you're just going to have to tune in next week to find out.
Speaker: I'll be back on New Year's Eve.
Speaker: Bye for now.
Speaker: And that's it for this episode of Beyond Retirement.
Speaker: Thank you so much for hanging out with me.
Speaker: I hope you enjoyed it.
Speaker: Are you ready to start rocking your retirement?
Speaker: Head on over to www.beyondretirement.ca forward slash rocking it and sign up to plan out your own roadmap for retirement.
Speaker: Don't wait till it's too late.
