Time to set your goals

Now you’ve worked out what makes you tick and what kind of retiree you are, can you think of some real goals you’d like to achieve? These should be a mixture of short, medium and long-term goals, remembering you could hopefully have several decades of retirement ahead of you.

Look back to your values on page 56 to help work out how this may affect your goals. If you value nature, for example, maybe retirement is about transforming your garden or volunteering for a nature charity. If you value creativity, retirement could be doing more sewing or even starting a business selling things you make.

SMART TEST YOUR GOALS SPECIFIC

– eg: ‘I will play badminton twice a week’ rather than ‘I’ll do more exercise’

MEASURABLE

– How will you know when you’ve achieved it?

ACHIEVABLE

– Are they doable given my finances or my health?

RELEVANT

– Your goal has to mean something to you to make you want to do it, so ask yourself why you want to do it

TIME-BOUND

– when will you have achieved your goal by?

Studies found we use two more neural pathways in our brain when we write something down, and our brain witnessing us commit to the goal makes us more than 42 per cent more likely to stick to it.

By telling others about your goals you’ll feel even more committed to them. You could also give them dates by which you’d like them to ask you about your progress.