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Speaker 1: Have you ever noticed this. Two people retire at the

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same time, maybe the same year. They're about the same age,

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similar income, similar health, and five years later, one is energized,

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they're excited, they're connected, they're learning new things, they're traveling,

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they're growing, and the other one is bored, they're isolated,

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they're frustrated and maybe a little bit disappointed. But what

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makes the difference. It's not luck, it's not money, although

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that helps, and it's not even health, although that helps too,

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at least not entirely health. It's habits. So today I

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want to share five habits that I've noticed in retirees

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who truly thrive. I'm Maureen Dobranski. This is life starts

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at retirement. I produce a retirement lifestyle video once a week.

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So when you retire, no one now tells you when

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to wake up, no one sets your deadline, no one

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really expects anything from you. And that freedom can feel

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absolutely amazing, or for some people it can feel confusing,

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it can feel destabilizing. So the retirees that thrive seem

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to create their rhythm. They often have a morning routine,

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they move their bodies at certain times, they schedule social connections.

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They make sure to get out of the house. They

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plan their weeks or their days with intention. They don't

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just drift through retirement. They design their retirement. Because here's

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the truth, too much unstructured time doesn't often create happiness

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for most people. It creates a little bit of wrestling blessness.

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It creates uncertainty. So freedom, although that's one of the

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big things that retire They say they want is more freedom.

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But too much freedom actually needs framework, It needs some

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kind of a habit around it. Number two, they move

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every single day. Now I don't mean like running marathons movement,

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but I do mean consistent movement. They either walk, they stretch,

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they do some kind of training, They golf, they swim,

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or even they just get out of the house for

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some movement. Now, I want to tell you just a

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little bit about my mom. When my mom and dad,

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when my dad was alive, my mom and dad would

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get out of the house every single day when they

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were in Arizona. Oftentimes it just meant going to watch

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a ballgame just down the road, and the ballgames were free.

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They could sit there, talk to the other people at

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the game, watch the game, and at least they got

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out of the house. In Edmonton where they lived. It

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was often cold and ugly, but even still they would

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go to the grocery store on the coldest, most horrible,

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snowy days. But they got out of the house every

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single date. And I really firmly believe that contributed to

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much of why they thrived so much in retirement, because

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many thriving retires understand that that movement is powerful, that

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strength maybe equals independence, that mobility equals freedom, that energy

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equals opportunity. The retires who struggle often just slowly stop moving,

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not maybe dramatically, oftentimes it's gradual and they don't really

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realize it, but that gradual decline changes everything. It changes

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their mood, their confidence, they're so life their energy. The

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ones who thrive treat movement like brushing their teeth. Maybe

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it's non negotiable. They move every single day, So think

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to yourself, when was the last time you really moved again,

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not running a marathon, but actually moved intentionally. Number three,

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they build new connections, And this one is huge because

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thriving retirees don't really rely on, or can't often rely

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on their own circle. Because when you retire, oftentimes that

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one circle with work, with your companions at work, etc.

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Goes away. So thriving retirees, no, they have to find

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a new circle or increase their circle because now they

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have so much more time to fill. So they often

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they'll join clubs I talk about that, they'll take classes,

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they'll volunteer, they say yes to any invitations they introduce

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themselves because they understand that community doesn't just continue like

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I say. Sometimes those work people, you'll stay in contact

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with them, but in a different way. So it has

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to be built and built bigger and wider. So there

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was struggle that retirees though, who struggle. They'll often say, well,

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my friends are busy or no one invites me anymore,

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and it's not like it used to be, and I

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don't know what to do. But thriving retaries they don't wait.

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They initiate because their connection is intentional. So even though

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it may be difficult to go outside of your comfort

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box comfort comfort box, they do because they know they

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need to expand and continue having social activity with others.

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Number four, they keep learning, keeping their mind busy. And

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this might be one of the most underrated habits out

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there because retiring thry retirees who thrive are often curious,

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and I love that word curious. It's one of my

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favorite words. They will learn new technology, they'll maybe try

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new hobbies. They'll start YouTube channels, how crazy is that.

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They'll take courses, they read more, they read different things,

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they ask questions. They don't freeze themselves in the decade

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they retired. That sounds harsh, but a lot of people do.

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They've quit work and they learned. They knew this much,

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and I get it. When you first quit work, the

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default is often to do nothing. Okay, great, take that

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time and do nothing. But then once that two weeks

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to two months is over, then start exploring new things.

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But oftentimes people freeze where they left work and they

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don't learn anything more. But we know that thriving retirees

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they evolve. They want to learn more, they want to

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see the world, they want to experience different things. The

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ones who struggle often quietly say things like Ooh, I'm

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too old for that. Ooh that one really gets to me,

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whereas thriving retires say, why not, let's try it. Curiosity

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keeps the brain alive. Yeah, curiosity killed the cat, but

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curiosity keeps the brain alive. Growth keeps the spirit alive.

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So retirement really isn't the end of your learning. It's

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not the end of your expansion. It's the beginning of it.

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And number five. Number five, they find a purpose, I guess,

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they find a reason to get up in the morning.

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And this is a big one because now you have

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twenty four hours a day, seven days a week to

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fill and no one, no boss, no coworker, no one

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is telling you how to fill it. It's all yours.

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So once you adjust to having those twenty four hours,

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and once you've sort of unwound from being at work

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so much, oftentimes with retiree's boredom sets in. And that's

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where you need what I call app purpose. You don't

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need to volunteer necessarily to change the world, you don't

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need to be mother Teresa. But you need a reason

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to get up in the morning. And I tell retirees

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all the time, this is how most people find a

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reason to get up in the morning. They ask themselves

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some of these questions, things like what did you love

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to do when you were a kid, What did you

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love about your job? What makes you smile, what do

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you love doing, what do you what passes the time?

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Quickly for you, what do you want to learn? Did

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you always want to learn a language? What did you

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want to do when you were young? What did you

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think you were going to do as a career but

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it turned out that you didn't do that as a career.

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Ask yourself all of these questions, and then slowly you

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have to put yourself out there again, slowly start adding

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them back into your life through classes, through online classes,

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through YouTube videos, through whatever means it is. You have

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to put yourself out there and ask yourself these questions

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and then find the answers to these questions that gives

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you a purpose, a reason to wake up in the

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morning once that initial woo euphoria of retirement fades, because

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it will fade for most people. So here's the honest truth.

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Thriving isn't about perfection. Thriving isn't about doing this great, big,

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huge thing in retirement. Thriving is about making small daily dishes,

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decisions maybe around your structure, your movement, your connection, your curiosity,

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and a reason to get up in the morning. No

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one really drifts into a thriving retirement. No one's gonna

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knock on your door and not going knock knock knock, moreing, Hello,

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do you want to do this with me? No, no

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one's going to do that unless you put it out there,

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So thriving retirees build it. And if you're already retired,

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I would say ask yourself this, which of these habits

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are you doing well? Which one needs attention? And if

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you're approaching retirement, start now, don't wait. Don't just retire

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from something, retire into this amazing life. Retire into something.

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And I'd love to know which of these five do

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you think is more important and which one do you

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need to work on. Let's talk in the comments. I'm

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Morning Dabranski, Miss Life starts at retirement. I mentioned i'd

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produce a retirement lifestyle video. What's a week? Excuse me?

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I have an amazing Facebook group, thirty five thousand people

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in it. It's at Facebook dot com slash group slash

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Life Starts at Retirement. And thank you so much for

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being here. I'll see you in the next one.