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Most retirement books advocate for a soft and safe landing into retirement.
Radical Retirement awakens a sense of excitement about reinventing your sense of self and stepping out into a new time in your life, which might not follow what you had previously thought or what others had thought for you.
Taking stock of one's life upon retirement is daunting. Regret for lost opportunities, an awareness of unfulfilled goals, a nostalgia for happier times, and the inquiry into human purpose can feel overwhelming.
Radical Retirement argues that it isn't necessary to select from a conventional retirement portfolio of "selves", such as that of the leisure seeker, cruise traveller, or avid gardener. And rather than clinging to a notion of 'self' built up during working lives, retirement can actually open up a huge opportunity for new directions and even ways of thinking about yourself. Each of the chapters, written by people across a wide variety of sectors and with different experiences and stories to tell, show in an honest way how to seize the opportunity to take life in a new and perhaps unexpected direction. Conscious of the formative psychological influences on personality, the chapter authors share with readers how to create appropriate new roles and identities in retirement.
This book is for professionals working in any sector who are thinking about retirement, on the cusp of retirement, or who are retired and are rethinking their professional future. It will also be of use as a reference book for retirement coaches.
List of contents
Part I: Purpose 1. Finding One's Purpose or Purposes (Krista Court and Ruth McHugh) 2. Tempered Radicals )Jo Greenwood and Caroline Lilley-Woolnough) 3. Re-invention Perspectives for Career and Beyond (Kath Houston) 4. Taking a Chance on Career Planning (Sandra Booth and Emma Olyott) 5. Multiple Iterations (Ian Gordon) Part II: Finding a New Mission 6. The Contentment Shock (Ian Helps) 7. Transformation: A Pathway to Reinvention and Renewal (David Pyle) 8. Mining for Wisdom (Darragh Power and Kevin Kelly) 9. Reinvention Through the Fabric of Our Lives (Louise Sutton and Geraldine Locke) 10. Can't See the Tree for the Forest: A Journey of the Many Possible Selves We Might Become (Cathy Ward) Part III: The Stories We Tell Ourselves 11. I Will Live in the Past, the Present and the Future: Scrooge and the Possibility of Redemptive Transformation (Yael Maurer Eliav) 12. A Personal and Unique Journey (Matthew Pritchard) 13. A Table of Bricolage (Dawne Gurbutt) 14. Imposter Syndrome, Serendipitous Encounters, and Unconscious Reinvention (Dan Biggs and Paul Irvine) 15. A Dark Winter's Evening (Martin Ward)
About the author
Christine Eastman is a qualified coach, with unique experience in facilitating professionals' transition from manager to leader. She is also Senior Lecturer in the Business School at Middlesex University and Teaching Fellow in the Management School at Lancaster University, and a multiple book author.
Kath Houston is a career coach, book author and a university teaching fellow and researcher. She has investigated career decision-making tipping points and how to prompt a career epiphany.
