30 Years After Retirement, Advice for Planning Your Second Life: A Journey to Find Your True 'Me'

 The remarkable advancement of modern medicine has extended the average human lifespan to over 80 years.


However, unfortunately, our retirement age is still around 50 years, so how to spend the long 30 years after retirement has become an important topic in our society.


Of course, this may not apply to those who have a business that they will run for their entire lives or those who work in professional fields without a retirement age.


However, retirement is an inevitable stage of life for most workers, and especially office workers, who end their working life in their 50s, must think about how to fill the remaining long time.


I believe that the main reason many people experience depression after retirement is because they think, 'There is nothing more I can do in society.'


During work life, a clear professional identity such as 'who I am in what company, what department,' defines oneself and provides a sense of social belonging and stability.


This identity sometimes becomes a support that helps one endure difficult work.


However, when you lose this professional identity, that is, the 'shell' that surrounds you, along with retirement, you may experience a deep sense of loss and depression.


Repeating past titles or achievements after retirement and longing for the past are clear examples of the emptiness that comes from the absence of your current role.


I think this post-retirement depression has aspects similar to postpartum depression.


Before pregnancy and childbirth, women form social relationships through their jobs and confirm their identities.


However, after giving birth, as they focus on raising children, they become disconnected from their existing social roles and sometimes experience confusion about their identity and depression as they reflect on 'who they were originally'.


The sense of deprivation and depression that you feel when you lose this important 'shell' (job or main role) that supported you can be very natural emotions for humans.


That is why I actively suggest having a 'second job (lifelong job)' to overcome this sense of loss and enrich your life after retirement.


The second job mentioned here refers to an activity that can add meaning and vitality to life beyond making a living, and it is desirable to meet the following criteria:


1. Work that you truly like and can immerse yourself in: You should prioritize inner satisfaction over the eyes of others or financial compensation.

2. Work that you can continue steadily for your entire life: You should be able to enjoy it from a long-term perspective rather than being obsessed with short-term achievements.

3. Work that does not set excessively large goals: Excessive greed can easily lead to frustration. It is important to feel satisfaction through small achievements.

4. Work that is free from the eyes of others or competition: Comparing with others can cause unnecessary stress and negative emotions (competitiveness, jealousy, etc.).


Competition with others can cause relative deprivation, which can amplify depression and further lead to negative emotions such as anger or jealousy.


The reason I enjoyed computer games in the past is similar to this.


Since I wasn't very good at games, I lowered the difficulty of the computer and won easily, accumulating small successes, which helped me build my self-esteem.


As these small successes were repeated, my confidence grew, and I gradually gained greater satisfaction by increasing the difficulty or winning in various ways.


This is not limited to games.


Rather than expecting grand success from the beginning, it is important to start with small goals and gradually achieve them.


Today's large companies did not boast huge scale from the beginning, and excellent artists and experts were not the best in their fields from the beginning.


Even if the beginning is small, if you add consistent effort, passion, and earnestness, you will eventually achieve what you want.


If you experience a sense of accomplishment and build self-esteem through your own second career, you will be able to escape the depression that can come after retirement and lead an active and satisfying life.


In the end, humans feel the greatest happiness when they live doing what they truly want to do.


If you did not get this satisfaction from your previous job, you must find something you want to do after retirement, even if it is just a hobby.


A life where you cannot do what you want and only endure pain can easily lead to depression.


In conclusion, in order to enrich your life after retirement, you need to constantly reflect on what you truly want and what makes you happy.


And based on this, it is important to learn and challenge yourself throughout your life and find meaningful activities of your own.


Retirement is not the end, but can be a valuable opportunity to discover your true self and start a new life.

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