She's not stopping any time soon
No, I am not retiring – yet
I am going to violate one of the rules my mama taught me, a lady never tells her age. Here it comes, I am 64. Next year on my birthday, I turn 65, the traditional age of retirement.
Retiring often means not going to work anymore. But in truth, there are two distinct types of retirement, financial retirement, and retirement from work.
As for retirement from work, as a business owner that is a complex question.
For most of my life, the business could not run without me, or so I made it to be, for more than two or three weeks. I started my business when I was 27. At that time, I had no grand vision, such as building it and selling it for multiples in five or ten years. It was a simple vision of having fun, doing good, and providing for my family.
Financial retirement means you are no longer required to go to work for money. The resources you have accumulated during your working life are sufficient to take care of you for the rest of your life. By this definition, I have been financially retired since my mid-fifties. After all, I am a CPF/PFS and if I didn’t follow my own advice, that would be inauthentic. It would also make me untrustworthy, and ingenuine in my opinion.
As with many business owners, as the business grew more successful, it more or less owned me. Another way to say this is for years, I didn’t have the capacity or skill to set the business up to run very long without me.
At 50 I began looking deeply at the paradigm of life I had created for myself. I deliberately sought the skills needed to do, “being a business owner” differently. By 55, I developed a game plan of how I was going to go about making myself non-essential to the business. My test, which I successfully passed, was in my 60th year. I took a 7-week sabbatical during which time I did not call, email, or connect with the business in any way. I know I passed because the amazing team at MACKEY and The Prosperity People, kept the business running like a well-oiled machine in my absence.
Not only was it important for me to have a sabbatical, I truly needed a deep respite after over thirty years in business. It was also critical that clients have confidence that the business can run without me. A successful trial run in the form of a sabbatical was clear evidence.
Since my sabbatical, I have continued strengthening the people and systems at MACKEY and The Prosperity People, and the team has continued to grow and expand their capabilities. For 2020, my roles will be to write, speak, and coach.
My new book, The Prosperity Playbook, A Business Owners Guide to Financial Prowess, will be coming out in the first quarter of 2020. I’ll continue writing for my blog, and other news outlets. I hope that more books are in my future, as I love the process of writing.
I will be speaking to business groups about the material in the book, in addition to doing interviews and podcasts on the material. If you have a business group that needs more Financial Prowess, I love the opportunity to share. Reach me at Mackey@MackeyAdvisors.com
Lastly, I will be coaching my team. Life is a process of continuous change and a supportive coach or mentor can help. I am told I have come to be a pretty good coach over the years, and I hope to continue to grow my coaching skills while continuing to help others.
As this year ends and a new one begins, it is a perfect time to find the edges in your life that need smoothing, refining, and growing. The process I used to prepare for my sabbatical is named, G.I.R.S.T. It will be detailed in my forthcoming book, but if you would like a copy now, email Topher@MackeyAdvisors.com and he will send you the protocols and process right away.
May you be well and prosper and find your joy this holiday season,
Mackey