How Do I Get There from Here?

Chapter 4

Getting Real: Imagine Your Future and Start Planning

The place to begin, as I often say, is where we are. It’s fun to imagine the future, and we need to do that, but that imagining frequently fails to become actionable unless we start with where we are. It’s too easy to get lost in the joys of possibilities and frequently too painful to look in the mirror and acknowledge where we are. Where are we?

Generally, we’re over 50 and have some growing level of awareness that many of us—not all but many—could have a longer future in front of us than our grandparents did. At 50, a substantial number of us could potentially live, need to pay for, and want to find engagement and meaning for another 30 to 50 years. As you can see, it’s not just ...