Approaching Retirement
I’m about 8 months from retirement, and my entire corporate career of over 40 years feels more and more like one long SERE exercise.
I’m not regretting it. I chose stability and to provide for my family. Didn’t want to be poor. But mentally I spent decades evading being sucked into corporate culture.
I was never a great fit anyway. The constant deference to hierarchy whether it made sense or not, all the self-monitoring and politically safe communication has never been natural to me. I carved out independence wherever I could. I worked remote even though it limited opportunities. I just made sure I added value and kept autonomy where I could find it.
It has worked pretty well. I can retire comfortably, but it’s a new phase.
Less filtering, less keeping my mouth shut, less tolerating what makes no sense, less "what's measured is what gets done."
I have zero interest in becoming some kind of “say whatever” jackass, but I am interested in stepping out of where I have been. Just say what’s true, with kindness, with little or no threat of repercussions.
Just be more like myself and be more open with people who can actually hear it.
I’m curious whether other people around retirement age (or any age) have experienced something similar. Not feeling like they are escaping a bad life, and more like they are finally coming out of decades of adaptation they only partially realized they were maintaining.