Transitioning from a decades-long career to whatever comes next can be both disorienting and exciting. As MEA teaches, a productive life transition should follow a process: an ending, a messy middle for reflection and consideration of what’s next, and finally, a new beginning. For me, after over 43 years of full-time work, my experience ending that chapter has been a spiral of memories, self-reflection, and yes, even regrets. One unexpected place that stirs up a range of emotions for me is LinkedIn. To be honest, when I peruse my LinkedIn account it can feel a little like mourning. I know it’s time to move on, but I’ve learned that acknowledging the past with nostalgia and grace is a key part of any productive transition.
Over the years, I’ve studied career transitions thoroughly and am now a certified retirement coach. The biggest challenge in transitioning from a full-time career is not financial—it’s about reimagining your purpose and finding new sources of self-esteem, fulfillment, and happiness. While it’s important to look forward, we can’t overlook the value of looking back first. Ending a long career isn’t a sudden, sharp change. We can’t go to sleep one night as a career-focused person and wake up the next day fully embracing retirement.
One of the best ways to honor the “Ending” phase is to reflect on your past: the experiences, situations, and relationships that brought you happiness and fulfillment. These are clues to your “success scripts.” Understanding them can provide valuable insight into your purpose moving forward. And your purpose can act as a guiding light, helping you choose among the often-overwhelming possibilities of life in your “Third Age.”
In this context, LinkedIn becomes a digital scrapbook of your professional history. It’s a place to reflect on your accomplishments, the people you’ve worked with, and the lessons you’ve learned. It also serves as a real-time news ticker, showing what your connections are up to and how they’ve advanced in their careers. While LinkedIn provides useful data for self-reflection, it can also stir up emotions that feed a productive “Ending” process.
- Missing my career feels like a loss, and I mourn it with affection. Looking back for insights is helpful, and reliving past mistakes or missed opportunities with a clear eye can help me steer my choices moving forward. I’ve passed the “acceptance” stage and now see my full-time career as a truly fulfilling chapter. Instead of focusing on loss, I draw on the positive experiences to guide my new portfolio life – which continues to include some work.
- My career will always be part of my identity, but it no longer defines me. When I introduce myself, I still mention the companies I worked for and the positions I held, but now I equally stand for the fulfilling aspects of my life today. My career provided self-esteem, fulfillment, and meaningful relationships. It’s natural to miss that, but now I have the freedom to apply what worked in my career to new endeavors, discovering fresh sources of fulfillment and happiness.
- Seeing the career moves of my LinkedIn contacts reminds me that work relationships can be another “loss” if we don’t nurture and renew them. The quality (not quantity) of relationships is the strongest driver of happiness in retirement. LinkedIn serves as a directory for intentional relationship renewal.
As I navigate this transition and help others to do so, I’ve come to understand that the end of a career doesn’t mean the end of purpose or fulfillment. It’s merely a shift—a chance to take all that I’ve learned about myself, cherish the memories, and apply them to new realms.
-Paul
Paul Kadin is a Certified Retirement Coach and has recently added TQ Coaching certification from MEA. He works with individuals, couples and groups on self-reflection to unlock purpose and passions and then build plans for fulfilling life after full time work. www.resonancellc.com