Thoughts From Retirement Dreams: If an entrepreneur retires, who pays for the gold watch?
If a tree falls alone in the forest, does it make a sound? If an entrepreneur retires, is there any fanfare, or just a slow decline into obscurity?
My father was a gas station man. He worked for Standard Oil for many years and then owned a Mobil station for most of my childhood. He worked 6 days a week, from 6am to 6pm.
My mother was a stay-at-home mom who raised 6 children. She made my dad's lunch every morning and had dinner on the table every night. They seemed happy enough, and since I am the youngest by far, I was able to watch them prepare for his retirement at 54.
He owned the land where his Mobil station sat, and when he had to decide between selling and replacing the old tanks and pumps, he chose the former. For the first 6 months my parents were like teenagers, giddy and happy and traveling nonstop. Since my grandmother lived with us, and I was a freshman in high school, they had a built-in babysitter and newfound freedom.
Then, there was a change. When they weren't traveling, my dad searched for things to do. He fixed every issue in the house, made up a few more, and started asking my mom for chores.
When that well ran dry, he tried be "helpful" in other ways, like offering to go to the grocery store with her. Helping her with the laundry. Helping her with dinner. Helping her eat her breakfast...
Let's just say that it didn't go over well.
Eventually my mom had enough of him underfoot and told him to get a job. So, he did. A couple of part-time gigs here and there and a stint as a volunteer juror got him out of the house and out of her hair for a time. Then, mom wanted to travel again, so he "retired" a second time.
When tired of traveling again they bought a hotel gift shop, which had to be open 365 days a year from 7am - 10pm. My dad worked 5 days a week, mom worked a few here and there, and she got to buy lots of things at wholesale.
They loved it until they didn't love it anymore, and dad "retired" again.
We never had a party for any of his retirements, and we lost him in 2001. He had experienced 17 years of retirement by then.
I decided to "retire" by the end of the year. I use quotation marks because I don't really know how to retire.
I am my company, and my company is me. I am not quite sure who I am without it. When people ask me what I do, do I say I'm retired? When they ask where I retired from, do I tell them that I retired from myself?
If someone calls me a year from now and says, "We would like you to come train our sales team," do I say no? If I say yes, does that mean I'm not really retired?
So many questions, and not any answers yet. But that's ok.
I think maybe I'll just play with the concepts and test them out on those who will listen. Maybe I'll get some helpful advice from some of you.
Maybe I'll get a job offer that I can't refuse.
Maybe I'll just go buy myself a god watch and get it over with...
