Are you working for fulfillment or working for a living? As we journey through midlife and beyond, work life transitions may be forced upon us due to the loss of a job, unexpected health issues, or family caring responsibilities. Alternatively, we may be ready to consider retirement from long term careers with a degree of financial security that allows us to shift from making a living to making a life. Wherever we are on this midlife journey, this can be a time for making conscious choices about our work life.

In our Midlife New Life Conversation Circle Mastermind program, we are approaching these important topics. Working for a Living and Working for Fulfillment are two chapters of the book, Midlife New Life – Living Consciously In Midlife and Beyond, that we are exploring in these virtual gatherings. We are living longer and working longer than previous generations. Can we begin to focus on working because we want to rather than working because we have to? Can we think of retirement as freedom to work rather than freedom from work?

Many of us have to work to pay the bills but maybe now is the time to develop a roadmap for the future, for working because we want to in midlife and later life. Begin to explore opportunities for encore careers in similar or different fields, entrepreneurial ventures, or volunteering. Entrepreneurial ventures may support doing what you want to do, doing what you can do; maybe making money and making a difference. What do you want to do? Take a moment to fantasize about appearing on the cover of a magazine: what magazine would it be, and what would the article be about? Who do you choose to be in midlife and beyond?