Sharlyn Lauby, Author at Unretirement Project

What We Are UP To – October 2018

October 24, 2018 by Sharlyn Lauby 6 Comments

> I know this movie has been out for a while, but I heard so many wonderful things about the soundtrack, I had to check it out. While I thought the movie was somewhat predictable, the soundtrack is awesome and if you like chase scenes…you have to check it out.

Reading | Fair, Nonpartisan Election Information

> This year’s midterm ballot in Florida is over two pages long with amendments! I take voting very seriously, so I’m looking for good resources that will educate me on the issues. AARP recently ran an article listing four resources for election information: VoteSmart.org, RealClearPolitics.com, Ballotopedia.org, and PolitiFact.org. Get educated and take time to vote on November 6, 2018.

Remembering | The “Big” City

> One of the things that we knew we would have to deal with in moving to Gainesville, Florida was the size of the city. The population is about 130,000. We’ve always lived placed with 1M+ populations…and gotten accustomed to all the retail shopping, entertainment, restaurants, etc. that comes with a large city. During our last two October trips, we’ve found ourselves saying, “Oh! There’s The Container Store…” or “Ooooh, can we stop at Sephora?” LOL!

Working On | Tracking

> Weight Watchers has changed their name to WW and announced a new focus on wellness and wellbeing. I really like it. But I feel to get the full benefit that I’m going to have to do a better job of tracking my activities, which I must admit, I’m not the best. It’s all about taking it one day at a time.

Feeling | “Falling” For the Season

> Fall season in October could possibly be the very best. ‘nuf said.

Planning | Holidays

> Since we haven’t completely unpacked from our move, we’re trying to figure out the holidays. Of course, we have no idea how into the holidays people get around here. I must admit that very few people decorated for Halloween. But gosh, when we lived in Cincinnati, Halloween was a big deal. So, were trying to figure out if we make new traditions or keep old ones? Should we unpack the holiday decorations? Decisions, decisions…

Loving | Vionics

> As a speaker and trainer, I spend a lot of time walking and standing. So, I’m trying to be kinder to my feet. Especially since I’ve had two ankle fusions. I’ve seen Vionics for years but finally splurged on a couple of pairs. Very nice shoes, fashionable, quality materials, and most of all – comfortable. It did take some time to figure out the right size, but once that happened…I would recommend them highly.

Geeking | Duolingo

> Duolingo is an educational language app. I played around with it a couple of years ago and tried expanding my Spanish vocabulary. I must admit that I don’t believe I had the right mindset and quickly gave up. I’m not sure an app can make you fluent in a language. But I do like learning languages, so I decided to give it another try earlier in October. This time I’m going to work on my French. And maybe be less hard on myself…we’ll see.

What’s UP with you?

Create Your Own 10 Word Retirement Definition

October 17, 2018 by Sharlyn Lauby Leave a Comment

I read a very interesting post over on the Intentional Retirement blog titled, “My 10 Word Definition of Retirement”. I hope you’ll check it out. It’s a good read. Two things I found interesting about the post:

Everyone’s definition of retirement is different. And I mean this from multiple viewpoints. On an individual level and as a family. Because everyone’s definition is different, the path to get there is going to look a little different as well.
Everyone should take the time to develop their own definition. I think we have the foundation for the definition in “not working full-time” or “collecting Social Security”. But what does it really mean in terms of how we spend our time?

My real takeaway from the 10 word definition post is that we can create this activity for ourselves. You can do this a couple of ways:

Make a list. Put a date on your calendar to come up with 10 words that describe what you want out of retirement. Or put a piece of paper on your refrigerator and write down one word a day for 10 days. You get the point. After you create the list, put it aside for a few months and come back to it. Does it still describe what you want from retirement?

I could see this being an annual activity. Once a year, pull the list out and make sure you’re okay with it. If you want to change words, do it. At some point, you might want to share your list with family members. See if there are common words. Maybe there needs to be some discussion or compromise about other words.

Make a vision board. If you prefer visuals to words, find 10 images that represent retirement. You can keep them in a paper journal or post them on a site like Pinterest. (And if you’re not ready to share your images with the world, just label your retirement board “secret”.) Like with the words, you can revisit your images whenever you wish and change them as you like.

One of the things that’s nice about vision boards is you can eventually create smaller sections for areas like second careers, retirement locations, or retirement finances and add articles you want to refer to later. The other thing that’s nice about vision boards is you can search the internet for plenty of creative inspiration. Just be sure that the inspiration is something you really want.

It’s never too early or late to start thinking about the definition of your retirement. The definition is going to change. Trust me, I’m not retired (yet!) and my definition has already gone through some changes. And I’m cool with that.

My last takeaway from the post was that even when I become retired, it might make sense to every once in a while, revisit my definition of retirement. Very similar to my career. My career goals when I was in my 20’s weren’t the same as when I was in my 40’s. I could see retirement being the same way.

I’m beginning to think that the key to a successful retirement involves many of the same skills that I’m using to manage my career. Who woulda thought?!

How To Build Your Elevator Pitch

October 10, 2018 by Sharlyn Lauby Leave a Comment

As working professionals, we’re aware of what an elevator pitch is. It’s those couple of sentences that we say to someone we’ve just met that answers the question, “Who are you, what do you do, and why should I pay attention to you?” No one would really ask this question, of course, and I didn’t write it this way to be evil or mean. But let’s be honest – this is the intention.

It’s called an elevator pitch because it’s supposed to be brief. Something you could easily say between floors during an elevator ride. Elevator pitches still matter as we’re approaching unretirement. Whether you plan to transition to part-time or try freelancing, having an elevator pitch is a perfect way to start a conversation or capture someone’s attention.

During AARP’s webcast on “Sharpening Your Networking and Interviewing Skills Online”, they talked about elevator pitches still being relevant, especially in job search. But here’s an example of how to use an elevator pitch when you’re not looking for a job:

Tell people who you are. As in your name, title, etc. I am amazed at times when I’m introduced to someone that they say their name but nothing else. For example, “Hi! I’m Joe.” doesn’t tell people who you are. But saying “Hi! I’m Joe, owner of MoJo Bakery” does.

Share what makes you special. Add a little something extra to your introduction like, “Hi! I’m Joe, owner of MoJo Bakery. We have the best brownies in the city of Denver.” You could also tweak this to reflect an accomplishment like “Hi! I’m Joe, owner of MoJo Bakery. We just won Denver’s Best Brownie award.”

Explain what you’re looking for and what you can offer. Sometimes people will upfront this part as in “We’re looking for tasters to try our latest brownie.” Or “I’m looking for a company to put brownies in their employee breakrooms.” Another approach is to introduce yourself and wait for a question like “Nice to meet you Joe. What brings you here?”

Elevator pitches have value in building relationships. And, in our unretirement, relationships are still important. They help us get jobs, volunteer board positions, and frankly, just build friendships.

Many of the skills we’ve learned over the years – like elevator pitches – are going to help us in our unretirement. We just have to refine the message to align with our unretirement goals.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while exploring the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA

Unretirement: Create Your Own Aging Strategy

October 3, 2018 by Sharlyn Lauby Leave a Comment

I ran across a very interesting article on NextAvenue titled, “Let People Choose How They Age”. It’s a good read you might want to check out.

The gist of the article for me was that individuals should break some of those traditional stereotypes when it comes to retirement. You guys know I totally believe that. It’s what “unretirement” is all about.

But I think there’s a difference between saying, “I want to redefine retirement.” and actually doing it. Let’s face it. For decades, we’ve been told that, at a certain age, we stop working, and that’s it. We’re supposed to save enough money to take care of ourselves. Today is different. We don’t need to stop working at a certain age. We can earn money while collecting Social Security.

Again, if we’re trying to break the retirement mold and create our own unretirement, it takes time. And it means thinking about our aging strategy. And then being prepared to put those thoughts and plans into action.

How do we want to spend our time? There are so many different things we can do: traveling, volunteering, working, etc. And frankly, there’s no reason we can’t do them all. It seems to me though, as we age, we will need to reprioritize the ways we spend our time. We need to be prepared to do that on a regular basis. And communicate it to the people in our lives. That includes family, friends, managers, and co-workers.

What impact will health have on our plans? At some point, we have to confront our health. Even if we eat right and exercise regularly. As our health changes, can we find activities that we enjoy? Is it possible to still volunteer or work part-time? If possible, it could make some sense to take a personal skills inventory and identify some knowledge and skills that we want to work on now…when we have the time to do it at our pace and convenience.

Will our finances force us to change our retirement plans? It would be wonderful to say that when we retire that we won’t have to live on a budget. Chances are that won’t be the case. So, first, we must learn how to create a retirement budget. In addition, we must make some very adult decisions about things we might never do because the budget doesn’t permit. When we’re in our 20’s and 30’s, we figure the money will always show up. At some point, we have to address the possibility that it won’t.

As we think about our unretirement and retirement, we have the ability to pave our own path. But that doesn’t necessarily mean we will be able to do whatever we want. It will be necessary to balance our wants and needs with the resources we have available to us. That doesn’t mean we can make our unretirement and retirement an enjoyable and fulfilling time.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while exploring the streets of San Francisco, CA

What We Are UP To – September 2018

September 26, 2018 by Sharlyn Lauby Leave a Comment

Disclosure: Occasionally we receive free products for review or include advertising links in posts, but no one impacts the honesty of our opinions.

Watching| Ocean’s 11, 12, and 13

> I know it may sound hokey, but we always watch the Ocean’s Trilogy before trips to Las Vegas. The movies are fun, even though we know the ending. We traveled to Las Vegas for the HR Technology Conference in September and managed to get in a little “fun” time as well. Our new fave restaurant? SushiSamba.

Reading| Feedly

> I read a lot of blogs. I think blogs offer many interesting insights and they’re often timelier than printed publications which have a long production time. I use Feedly to organize my blog subscriptions. I can organize them by content topics. And their mobile app is equally awesome. If you want to read more blogs but don’t want to have them junk up your email, consider checking out Feedly.

Remembering|Truly Delicious Pumpkin Spice Treats

>I will admit it. I love pumpkin spice season. But it’s time for me to remember what I tried last year and what was good. Because let’s face it…some of it isn’t that good. Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Kringle? Good. Pumpkin Spice Cheerios? Not so good. If you’re a pumpkin spice fan, let me know your favorites.

Working On| My Travel Capsule Wardrobe

> You know I’m using Cladwell to make the most of my wardrobe. Well, I just discovered that Cladwell allows users to form capsules. With all of the travel I have coming up, I’m using it to put together travel capsules. One in black and the other in navy.

Feeling| Busy!

> The last few months of the year are always the busiest for me. Not just because of holidays. Fall conference season is upon us in September. I’m honored to be attending events in Park City, UT, Phoenix, AZ, and Las Vegas, NV. I’m also conducting training in Seattle, WA, Nashville, TN, and Alexandria, VA. Lots of travel and I love it!

Planning| Counted Cross-Stitch Project

> You know I’m a big fan of Guardians of the Galaxy. I saw a Rocket Racoon counted cross-stitch pattern and am toying with the idea of turning it into a pillow. It could also be a fun project to work on while I’m traveling. It’s looking like a trip to Michael’s Crafts might be in my future.

Loving| Luna Play

> As I get older, I realize how important it is to take care of my skin. I’m lucky to live in Florida because the humidity is wonderful for my skin. But that alone is not enough. I just picked up a Luna Play. It’s a small electronic face cleaner (similar to a Clarisonic) but the size makes it perfect for travel.

Geeking| Apple Watch 4

> Okay, I don’t even have it yet but I’m seriously geeking about it after the September announcement. I love my Apple Watch 2. And one of the reasons I like it is because of the focus on health. I do feel there’s a difference between closing my circles versus counting steps. I also like getting reminders to take my vitamins. With the new heart rate features in version 4…I’m in.

What’s UP with you?

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while exploring the streets of Austin, TX

Networking: It’s Still Important in Unretirement

September 19, 2018 by Sharlyn Lauby Leave a Comment

AARP recently hosted a webcast on how to “Sharpen Your Networking and Interview Skills”. If you missed it, it was an interesting session and you can still catch it via the archive. Of course, one of the big topics during the webcast was how to network. Frankly, it never ceases to amaze me the number of people who only network when they need to. Which is usually when they’re looking for a job.

Add to that, the number of people who swear that they’ve learned their lessons about always needing to network. Then once they land a new job, what do they do? Yep, they stop networking. They completely forget that conversation where they swore they’ve learned their lesson and realize they need to continuously network.

One of the best books I’ve read on the subject of networking is Keith Ferrazzi’s “Never Eat Alone”. I do have to admit it was kinda ironic that I read the book while traveling (alone) from a conference. But we won’t go there today.

In addition to the takeaways in Ferrazzi’s book, I’ve learned a few things about networking over the years. But, it might be easier to explain what networking is by saying what it’s not:

Something to cross off your ‘to-do’ list (as in “I networked today.”)
Only connecting with people who you feel can do something for you
Calling someone just to ask for favors
Giving your resume to everyone you meet
Only talking with your posse and not meeting anyone new
Handing out your business card to everyone you meet

The purpose of networking is building relationships. Let me say that again. Networking is about building relationships. And, how do you build solid relationships? I think of listening, smiling, sharing, helping, and connecting. Let me add that building relationships is a two-way street. Good networking has a balance to it. It’s not about one person always making the call. Or one person always asking a question. It’s about equal giving and sharing.

One last thing about networking. It’s not about always saying yes to every request that’s made of you. That’s a sure-fire way to starting feeling like you’re being taken advantage of. Learning how to say “no” is an equally important business skill.

Networking is still a critical skill in unretirement. As we get older, we can’t simply say, “I don’t need to network anymore.” We might want to network to find a part-time job. Or a consulting gig. Maybe just to get some information about Social Security or Medicare. We could also use networking to get a sought-after volunteer role, like being an usher at the local community theater (i.e. think about all those free shows!).

Networking isn’t just about getting jobs. So, we need to keep refining our skills and cultivating our network. Because that’s how we help others and get the things that we want.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby after speaking at the Flora Icelandic HR Management Conference in Reykjavik, Iceland

Choosing the Right Unretirement Gig

September 4, 2018 by Sharlyn Lauby 2 Comments

One of the reasons that we started this blog was to share our experience with blogging. Little did we know when we started HR Bartender that it would become something that we love to do while making a little money.

And my guess is we’re not alone when it comes to retirees or soon-to-be retirees wanting to find a little something they can do and make a little side income. But I will admit, blogging might not be for everyone. So, how do you find what makes sense for you?

Well, one of my favorite career sites is The Muse. They recently had an article about “How to Choose the Right Side Hustle for You”. Of course, the article is focused on anyone, but I thought this could be perfect for individuals thinking about their unretirement.

Developing a side hustle or side gig (whatever you want to call it), takes time. Just because you’re doing to do it on the side doesn’t mean you shouldn’t put any thought into it. Having a side hustle still involves business plans, licenses, taxes, etc. Here are three things to consider when choosing the right side work:

What do you want to do? Not simply “What am I doing now?” Or “What am I good at?” You might choose to do something completely different in unretirement. Maybe follow a dream you’ve had for years. But it’s worth taking the time to think about where you want to focus your energy because that might give you some indication of skills you want to polish up.

What are you willing to invest? Starting a side hustle might take some money. Some side hustles take very little. When I began consulting, all I needed was a desk and a computer. Both of which I had at home. Other side gigs might take saving and purchasing equipment over time. If you begin the process while you’re working, then you can budget for the expense while you still have income from another source.

How much time do you want to spend? The main reason I’m bringing this up is because how much time you want to spend doing your side gig could tell you if a marketing investment will be necessary. If you don’t mind starting slow and working your way to greater income, then little or no marketing might be okay. If you want to have a certain amount of income right away in your unretirement, then it might take a more robust marketing plan.

And let me add, these questions also allow you to decide if you like the side hustle you’ve chosen. That way, if you decide that the side hustle you thought was going to be so fabulous…well, isn’t, you have time and resources to change it.

It’s perfectly logical to think about having a side gig during unretirement. But the time to consider developing one is when you’re still working. That way the pieces are in place when you’re ready.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while exploring the streets of Denver, CO