Post-Career Purpose. You Can Find It.

By Karen and Erica

In the olden days, before there were many women retirees, retirement lasted a few years, at most, and the men who worked hard to get to that point were happy to rest and play. In the U.S., in the 1950s, all kinds of new avenues for play had come into existence—cars were widely available, a national network of highways had been built, and retirement communities in sunny climes had been invented. We suspect that most of these retirees, and their equally hard working spouses, did not worry very much about finding purpose in their remaining lives. 

Now, of course, there are lots of women retirees, they can expect to live for several decades after they retire, and many of them had a very different experience of working. Their expectations of retirement are different. They do want purpose, 

At least, some of them do. 

We have observed, in our years of Lustre, that women who loved their jobs have much more difficulty with post-career life than those that do not, and often that reaction depends upon the type of jobs people had. The National Institutes of Health confirms that conclusion.  

People associate work with low pleasure, despite finding it rewarding. This implies that retiring may increase happiness but decrease purpose. Studies have shown retirement-induced increases in life satisfaction and decreases in depression. Yet we did not find evidence of an asymmetric, negative impact on purpose, possibly because work is not as strong a source of purpose for older adults with lower socioeconomic status. (Citations omitted.)

If this research is correct, it has important societal implications: society needs to come up with an approach to retirement that does not delay its onset but does allow retirees to have a long and pleasant life after retirement.

Overall, our analysis demonstrates that retirement, as a crucial developmental milestone, may be something to be celebrated rather than feared for many people. In particular, the findings suggest that the policies to increase mandatory retirement ages may have adverse impacts on the well-being of socioeconomically vulnerable populations.

For those of us lucky enough to have had jobs that were fulfilling, and did offer us purpose, an entirely different result may be optimal—perhaps not delayed retirement, but post-career options that provide purpose. And of course everything likely will change when workers at every level change jobs much more frequently than they do now. Both work lives and post-career lives will become more fluid. 

Those in the forefront of these changes—ie us—will be the guinea pigs—though we will be in charge of our own fates, at least to some extent. And many of us think we want purpose.

What is purpose, in this context? One author suggests that purpose looks to the future, rather than the past. 

Meaning is all about our perception of the past—specifically, the stories we tell ourselves about the past. It’s how we make sense of the things that have already happened in our lives. It’s our cognitive understanding of everything that has shaped who we are today.

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Purpose is not about the past. It’s not about how we perceive our stories or what we’ve already gone through. Purpose is all about the present and the future. It’s about action. It’s about what we do with the time we have and how we choose to direct our energy and efforts.

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 If meaning is about understanding and integrating the past, purpose is about using the present to shape the future.

Or, as another researcher put it:

The beautiful part of this stage of life is all the opportunities it presents to live life better, to make different choices, and to use all the wisdom and knowledge you’ve gathered over the past decades to make smarter choices going forward. Your life isn’t over just because you’re now “retired.” If you want, it’s possible for life to begin, again.

Given that we might have decades of post-career life, it makes sense that we want purpose after we retire. And it would seem that the health implications are clear. 

A 2019 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that having a stronger sense of purpose is associated with decreased overall mortality and a lower risk of dying from heart, circulatory, and blood disorders.

Similarly, a 2021 study using data from the U.S. Health and Retirement Study found that people with a strong sense of purpose had a 24 percent lower likelihood of becoming physically inactive and cut their likelihood of sleep difficulty by a full one-third, relative to people who did not articulate a sense of purpose.

However, because post-career purpose is challenging, we are also beset with worry—Purpose anxiety.This term describes the anxiety, frustration, and even depression that people feel when they can’t figure out what their purpose is. One clinician notes that some of this anxiety arises because we focus on big challenges after we retire. 

Most of us focus exclusively on the big and audacious and completely overlook the abundant, accessible purpose.

Fixating on big purpose sets us up for frustration. Lofty goals can feel unattainable, and the pressure to achieve them can rob us of the joy in the journey. Little purpose allows us to find meaning in the process. It’s about showing up every day and doing things that excite us, whether or not they lead to a major accomplishment. This type of purpose is sustainable, fulfilling, and less likely to cause anxiety.

We’re not sure that is right for everyone. Certainly not fir us,  Precisely because we have the wisdom and knowledge of lives lived for decades, many of us will be happier involving ourselves in a cause larger than ourselves.  And we will know that we won’t get there in a day. We will be happier starting down the path than not trying at all. 

However, we find it, purpose seems critical for many of us.  We would love to hear from you how you went about the process of finding purpose.