You Are What You Do. (I Don’t Care What They Say.)
At the end of my bike ride yesterday, I pushed the odometer and, as the digital numbers for my distance appeared: 18.34. A surprising “ugh!” entertains no one except garage doors and me.I hadn’t ridden for a couple of days, then purposely planned plenty of riding time, set a goal of 20 miles, and … didn’t make it.I wasn’t pleased. With a gray, crummy sky, couldn’t I be okay with what I’d accomplished in 18.34 miles and return to the research on my desk?I turned the bike back toward the path and put a “21.37” on that odometer. Now back to my research.Chuckling over that? Labeling me “neurotic” or “compulsive over-achiever”? Not so fast.Achievements – even small ones – add up to one of the most critical contributors of wellbeing. And in the second half of life, you want all the wellbeing you can get, right? So why would you leave “achieving” out of your plan for your future, no matter what your age?
Wellbeing is Plural; Happiness is Singular
In 2002, finding a huge hole in the theory of his book, Authentic Happiness, Martin Seligman changed his thinking about the elements of positive psychology to include success and mastery. He abandoned the idea of “pursuit of happiness” for wellbeing, a more comprehensive ideal. He would later publish another book, Flourish, that explained his new theory.Wellbeing, according to Seligman, has five measurable pillars:
Positive emotion (of which happiness and life satisfaction are aspects);
Engagement;
Relationships;
Meaning and Purpose; and
Accomplishment (my odometer!).
While no single element defines wellbeing individually, each contributes.Authentic happiness theory (the one Seligman abandoned) claims that the way we choose our life’s course is usually based upon trying to maximize our happiness. For most people, it’s about feeling good and feeding this "one dimensional and subjective theory," according to Seligman.Wellbeing theory, in contrast, is subjective and objective. For instance, in that “Accomplishment” pillar above, there’s no fudging. Either you have accomplishments or you don’t. You can’t just feel accomplished.In other words, wellbeing cannot just exist in your head. You need data - something to show - for those five pillars.Maximize the five pillars and you maximize your life. My bike ride was a measurable outcome that could be etched into my “accomplishment” pillar.
Wellbeing Research with an Undeniable Career Tie-In
Based on global research conducted over 50 years in 51 countries, Gallup identified five essential elements of wellbeing:
Career;
Social;
Financial;
Physical; and
Community.
Again, the elements interrelate, but are also independent. Rebecca Bradley and her colleague further define each element and add two more in their work on wellbeing in organizations – “enjoyment” and a “sense of purpose”. Check it out here.Gallup and Bradley believe WHAT about career???So, if you can maximize wellbeing through accomplishments and/or career, why consider creating a lifestyle that diminishes work identity? Haven’t you heard the examples of highly-accomplished people who leave it all behind for retirement and then feel invisible and less valued?
Achieve, Achieve and Breeze Past 80
“I can’t stand it when I hear you say the word 'work',” rails Susan, a 55-year-old corporate executive. "Right now I am working myself to death for retirement that you say is supposed to include work? I don't think so.”Two things, Susan:First, that working-yourself-to-death job you are in doesn’t have to be the one you take into the future. The fundamental change in your transition to a late-life stage could include a new career, a new life, greater independence, new knowledge, excitement, passion and challenges. So, don’t let the word “work” bunch your panties.Second, basic but implicit assumptions about what is possible and desirable in our lives after 60 are obstructed if we accept a slower, quieter life or believe leaving work behind is what one “ought” to do. In the light of all we know about wellbeing, your “ought to dos” should be questioned thoroughly.To successfully plan the last part of life’s journey, time dictates - now more than ever - that in this reinvention you use a hefty hammer to fashion a new lifestyle with only highest priorities for your time and energy.While career may not be the centerpiece as it was in the past, it’s an important part of becoming our new selves.
Final Answer
Identity is lost and gained every day based on what you “do.”Forgetting the importance of accomplishment or choosing work that can make accomplishment unrecognizable (such as volunteering can sometime do) can create a void for your identity and wellbeing.Life after work should still include accomplishment – for many of us, that’s continuing a career arc well into our 80s. Whoever said the odometer of “work” stops at 65 should, like Martin Seligman, rethink their theory.