Retired? Go with the flow!

Retired? Go with the flow!

We grumble a lot at work. Yet we are relatively happy when we work. Especially on holiday we often experience more stress. This is shown in research by the American-Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Pretty startling, isn’t it? It’s because in your job, you’re generally doing something you’re good at. You have developed skills and always have a suitable challenge. And then you’re in a flow. Based on his research, Csikszentmihalyi developed his flow theory. He wrote the book ‘Flow, the psychology of the optimal experience‘ about it.

The flow theory

Csikszentmihalyi’s theory is based on the skills someone has and the challenge someone experiences. And what does it turn out to be? You are in a flow when the skills are precisely balanced with the degree of challenge. Suppose you are very skilled, but you get very little challenge. Then there is an imbalance. You’re going to be bored. The other way around can also be the case: few skills, many challenges. That doesn’t feel good either. In either case, people can get stressed out. We don’t know what to do anymore. Boredom can turn into gloom; you become unhappy. This often happens, for example, with gifted children who do not receive the right level of education.

Tips for getting into the flow

There comes a time when you retire. The great enjoyment can begin! But a glass of wine and a nice view doesn’t necessarily excite your skills. How do you stay in the flow when you don’t have to work anymore? We give you 4 tips and a bonus tip:

Tip 1: determine your area of interest

Find a challenge that fits your interests. Suppose you love making music immensely, and that was always your hobby. Then you can set yourself the goal to perform one day. Do you like art? Take an art history course. Has photography always interested you, but you never got around to taking it up seriously during your working life? Then join a photography club. Or set yourself the goal of holding an exhibition.

Do you find it difficult to decide which area of interest you want to invest in? Talk about it with your partner, children and friends. Or take a test. You can find several tests on the internet, although most are geared towards work. We ourselves use the Interest test during our Pension in View training course.

Tip 2: explore your area of interest

Have you written down some areas of interest? Then explore how you can further develop those skills. What would you like to learn and be able to do? And what fits with that? This could be a course, for example. But also, for example – if you want to immerse yourself in literature – a reading group. Or explore on social media which people you find inspiring in this field and follow them.

Tip 3: choose a challenge that fits your field of interest

It’s about the challenge. But the tricky thing is: we don’t just accept any challenge. That has to do with laziness. With looking forward to the effort it takes to take on a challenge. Or with the thought: I’m quite happy as I am, I don’t necessarily need to do anything. Of course, vacationing and day biking are a lot of fun. But they don’t necessarily excite your skills. A beautiful view and a glass of wine in your hand is a different kind of enjoyment than taking an art history course. You need both forms of enjoyment. We also wrote a blog about how you can organise your “Great Enjoyment” during your retirement.

Tip 4: set realistic goals

Taking on a challenge is great, but set realistic goals. Don’t make it too easy for yourself, but certainly not too difficult either. A little stress or the right dose of effort is good, but you have to be able to handle it. Maybe you can’t do everything anymore, for example because of a disability. But there’s always something you can do.

You don’t have to want to become very skilled. Maybe you can’t paint very well, but you really enjoy it. That’s fine, too. It’s about the challenge. And that you get into a flow with your skills. Not everyone has to be a Picasso.

Bonus tip: Make a schedule

Get a big stick. How? By making a schedule of activities you undertake. To cite an example, the son of a former neighbor of mine was going to marry an Italian. My neighbor wanted to make a speech in Italian and was learning Italian to do so. He toiled long on the speech and it was a great success. That was a big thrill for him. The people who were there are still talking about it. There are many inspiring books on how to get from idea to reality. Like ‘The Spiral of Creation‘ by Marinus Knoope.

During the training Pension in sight we pay attention to the flow. This training is designed for people who will be retiring in the near future. For decades, employers have been granting their older employees a Retirement in Sight training. Want to know more? Download the Pension in Focus Checklist below. In it we have listed all aspects of retirement for you.

Do you want to actively prepare for your retirement? Then take a look at our
pension in sight training courses
.