Why People Should try A ‘Test Run’ before Retirement

Retirement or exiting a business is potentially the biggest lifestyle change throughout people’s entire lifetime – going from having lots of structure and a framework within a week to a clear calendar. I have already eluded to the idea of giving some thoughts and consideration to this in the lead up to this, but one concept that I have been encouraging with people who need some refinement is the idea of a ‘Test Run’.

In the world of business or sport the idea of a ‘Test Run’ is fairly common, or even if you are thinking about buying a car. But what about the idea of doing this to prepare for your future lifestyle.

The way it works is that sometime in the lead up to the potential lifestyle change, you take some time out of work (ideally a week or two) and rather than using it to go away on holiday you actually replicate a week in the way that you think you will want to live it in the future. Think of it as some time invested into your future self.

The potential benefit of this is that you can actually experience what it might be like to live your intended future lifestyle. The further out that you do this, the more opportunities and time you are giving yourself to refine and improve this. Or it might just reaffirm what you had already been thinking.

So …. Why not give it a go!