Below is a message from our Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer, Tony Hixon
Hi, I’m Tony Hixon, author of Retirement Stepping Stones: Find Meaning, Live with Purpose and Leave a Legacy.
On March 22nd, 2011 my mom, Pam Hixon, chose to take her life. While the reasons have many twists and turns, her decision was mainly a result of being unprepared for retirement. To be clear, she was very prepared financially, but the non-financial side…sustaining meaning and purpose, she hadn’t spent enough time on. She knew exactly what she was retiring from, but she was not prepared for what she was retiring to. She found herself, retired from a profession where she provided care of others, and her patients needing her for their very existence, to not feeling needed at all. Within a few short weeks after retirement, she began to regret her decision. Retirement hadn’t been all it was cracked up to be. Her friends and social network were all still employed. My dad was still working. And she felt alone, isolated, desperate. Anxiety and debilitating depression set in as she felt a loss of meaning and an extreme loss of purpose. Within six months of retirement, having exhausted all perceivable outlets in her mind to get better, she chose to take her life, she committed suicide.
Yesterday, my book, Retirement Stepping Stones, was released to the world! In it, I lay out specific steps for a pre-retiree to work through to prepare for retirement from a non-financial viewpoint. Things like: Taking time to articulate your values, define your skillset, your interests, your unique ability, and then pairing that with the sheer amount of time available within a week, are immensely critical. The 40+ hours you’ve spent at the office are now going to be spent doing something else. Visions of trips to Arizona and spending time with the grandkids will certainly fill a bit of that time, but not near enough to help you still feel engaged and purposeful.
Over the last 10 years, I’ve learned a lot and I’ve chosen to communicate this message and these learnings into book form.
Please take a moment to watch the Book Trailer by clicking on the below image.
My book is now available for purchase! Check out www.tonyhixon.com/book to order a copy of yours today!
