{"id":8924,"date":"2015-11-18T09:00:20","date_gmt":"2015-11-18T09:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newclone.retiremove.co.uk\/blog\/?p=8924"},"modified":"2015-11-17T17:40:05","modified_gmt":"2015-11-17T17:40:05","slug":"helping-people-find-a-new-life-after-retirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newclone.retiremove.co.uk\/blog\/helping-people-find-a-new-life-after-retirement\/","title":{"rendered":"Helping you find a new life after retirement"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Judyx_480x640\"<\/a>JANE SLADE speaks to former retail fashion queen Judy Rich about her new business life as a retirement coach<\/h3>\n

It has been\u00a010 years since Judy Rich was in the cut and thrust of the business world running Long Tall Sally, the clothing fashion chain for tall women she founded in 1976.<\/p>\n

Now the American entrepreneur, who stands six feet in her stockinged feet, is walking tall once again running\u00a0another business.<\/p>\n

She is a retirement coach, helping people find fulfilling lives after they have stopped working.<\/p>\n

\u201cActually I don\u2019t like the word retirement,\u201d says Judy, 71. \u201cIt sounds a bit negative. Many of my clients don\u2019t see themselves as retired \u2013 they are more like \u2018shifters\u2019 \u2013 waiting for the next thing.”<\/p>\n

There are many people who know exactly what they are going to do after their working life; they\u2019ve been planning it and know\u00a0they want to spend it on the golf course\u00a0or travelling the world; but for others the future is a vacuum. That\u2019s when Judy comes in.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy clients are from all walks of life,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ve extroverts and introverts who have all come to a place where they feel stuck; left wondering what to do next.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"judy<\/a>When Judy sold her company she suddenly found there was a huge gap in her life. (Judy is pictured far right at the opening of a branch of Long Tall Sally in Bath in 1979.) So in 2006 she did a coaching course with the Coaches Training Institute, a California-based organisation.<\/p>\n

“It felt like putting on a new coat that fitted right away,” she said.\u00a0“I realised it could be a great opportunity for me where I could use all my business and life experience and so after the introductory course I went on to do a certified training course to become a life coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it was up to me I would recommend that all retirees be given three months of retirement coaching as part of their retirement package,” she adds.<\/p>\n

“So many people finish their working lives and think \u2018what do I do now?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Retirees obviously have less time than younger people to ponder their future and less opportunity to fix mistakes; but as we can expect to live longer active lives it is more important than ever to pick up the threads after retirement and discover a \u2018purposeful\u2019 life after work.<\/p>\n

One of Judy\u2019s clients Nick West (pictured below with his wife Barbara pre-retirement) found himself in a bit of a vacuum after selling his media businesses\u00a0four years\u00a0ago.<\/p>\n

After a two-year \u2018honeymoon period\u2019\u00a0of\u00a0exotic holidays, playing tennis, catching up with friends and enjoying his new found freedom and wealth Nick came to a point when he asked himself: “What now? I was missing the buzz I had in my working life and a sense of purpose.<\/p>\n

\"Scan\"<\/a>\u201cIt had been an all-consuming process preparing my business\u00a0for sale\u00a0that I didn\u2019t think about what I was going to do next,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew I didn\u2019t want to set up another business but I was used to having a long-term objective which was no longer possible. A lot of friends were in the same position but I decided to do something about it and contacted Judy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nick, 58, who lives in Gloucestershire, discovered that he couldn\u2019t transpose the life he had in business to retirement. So Judy got\u00a0him to look at his future as a portfolio of strands rather than having one single long-term goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was about rethinking and rebalancing my life so I had a rope made of several strands rather than one single aim,\u201d Nick explained (pictured below post-retirement).<\/p>\n

\"Nick\"<\/a>\u201cSo now I have an intellectual strand which is a plan to becoming more knowledgable about art history; a philosophical strand where I want to take a course to improve my understanding of philosophy and\u00a0an artistic strand where I want to build a studio and create a portfolio of sculpture works to a saleable standard.<\/p>\n

“I also have a\u00a0fitness strand where I want to join a tennis club and take up long-distance walking. I now feel very excited about the future as I now have a structure that will take me forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, there is no one-size fits-all solution to the frustrated retiree.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need between 3-6 months to explore what fulfils you and celebrate the work you have done and what you want to build on,\u201d advises Judy who operates her Rich Coaching business from her home in North London.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes it is about remembering what you did as a child. If you have been involved in the same work for the same company for 30 years you have probably forgotten that there are other things you enjoyed doing.\u00a0It’s is a process of peeling back the onion so you can start to discover other things.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Men tend to be defined by their goals and are target driven”<\/h4>\n

It is also about reprogramming your brain to think differently about life as she advises: \u201cYou have to silence the voice that stops you moving forward.\u201d This is particularly the case with men who more than women, view themselves as: \u201cI am what I do\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cMen tend to be defined by their goals and are target driven,\u201d she says. \u201cIt’s amazing when they discover they can exist in a different world and create a different kind of goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost are very confident and competent. They are not coming from a place of need. They know that they want to spend the next 20 or 30 years living fulfilling lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of my coaching is now focused on helping people create new businesses in retirement.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Just because your work has stopped it doesn’t mean your life ends”<\/h4>\n

Judy is also discovering that people are recognising that retirement coaching is something very positive. \u201cThere is less of a stigma about it as it’s not counselling or therapy.\u00a0Retirement coaching\u00a0is more acceptable. It is about finding your purpose and reason to be. Just because your work has stopped it doesn\u2019t mean your life ends.<\/p>\n

“I am also coaching empty nesters which is more about rebuilding self confidence.<\/p>\n

All I ask is for clients to be committed \u2013 for three to six months ideally and willing to make changes.\u201d She charges \u00a3100 an hour for two consultations a month which can be altered depending on the client\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n

“I am proof that you can keep going and I hope to demonstrate that life doesn’t stop when your job does.”<\/h4>\n

\u201cTen per cent of work happens in the sessions and 90 per cent outside,\u201d she says. \u201cThe session is the motivation.<\/p>\n

\"Judy<\/a>\u201cIf I had sold my business for millions of pounds I would have invested the money in other women\u2019s businesses; I would be a business agent,\u201d adds Judy (pictured left outside her first shop in London’s Chiltern Street in 1976).<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I didn\u2019t so what I am doing is empowering people through coaching and helping them create other businesses and discover they can do lots of things after retirement. I am proof that you can keep going and I hope to demonstrate that life doesn\u2019t stop when your job does.”<\/p>\n

For more information visit: www.richcoaching.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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