Matt – Your Better Retirement

Is It Okay To Be Unambitious in Retirement?

Pensive bald elderly male with gray beard and eyeglasses looking away while sitting at wooden table and leaning on hand

I don’t normally start my blog posts with a definition of a word, but today I’m feeling anarchic – I’m going to make an exception. This whole post is about ambition, and although I’m sure you will all know what the word means, let’s just remind ourselves. This will help set the tone for how the rest of this post will look. Here we go then.

ambition – a desire and determination to achieve success.

There are other definitions, of course, but this one, I think, works well. A desire and determination to achieve success. When you think about it, striving for success is something society has expected from us right from our early years. You went to school – a goal (amongst others) was to get good grades. School completed, you then got yourself a job. Well done. Now go on and get yourself promoted, earn more money, and outdo your peers. We don’t want you to stop now! And you could argue that we were aiming for goals in our baby/toddler days. Come on, get yourself walking now! And those nappies – we need to get you on that toilet, doing it for yourself. Come on – where’s your ambition?!

Why Saying ‘No’ Becomes Just as Important as Saying ‘Yes’ in Retirement

no, refuse, negative, disapprove, stop, reject, dislike, hand, refuse, refuse, refuse, refuse, refuse, negative, stop, reject, reject, reject, dislike

Some of you reading this may remember a character called Zammo Maguire from the UK kids’ show Grange Hill from back in the day. He urged us to “Just say no”, but not for the type of things I will be talking about in this post. That would be far too heavy! I’ll leave that one with you to dig out should you wish.

So you’ve got a lot of spare time now. Other people know you’ve got a lot of spare time. Other people need things done. Who better to go to than people who have now got a lot of spare time? That’s you, that is!

Why Comparing Your Retirement to Others Steals Your Joy (and How to Stop)

Black and white photo with motivational handwriting on a grid notebook page.

So it seems that the above picture is giving you a good idea about my views on this particular topic. Straight to the point. No messing. The trouble is, we all do it, myself included. We’ll explore in this post why we desire comparing ourselves to our fellow humans, with a special focus on our retirement years, of course, and then look at ways we can think more healthily and kick this comparison lark into touch.

Why You Can Feel Lonely Even If You’re Not Alone

Introduction: “But I’m Not Actually Alone…”

I guess when we think of loneliness, we can believe that loneliness stems from not being around people. Being on our own. This, certainly, can be the case, but have you considered that you can also be lonely even in the company of others?

Loneliness in retirement can be confusing. You may have a partner, family close by and friendly neighbours. All looking good then. So when a quiet sense of loneliness starts to drift in, it can feel confusing, perhaps uncomfortable. Yet, feeling lonely in retirement, even when you are not physically alone, is far more common than people realise. So why might this be the case? Usually, it is because something important has shifted – and your inner world is trying to get your attention. Let’s look at this in more detail, and importantly, develop some solutions to deal with this.

The Decluttering Detox Challenge

Okay, here we go. It’s time to let our hair down a bit. I talk a lot on this website about important matters: identity, purpose, meaning, social connections and more. Vital stuff, of course. But every now and again, I feel the urge to lighten things up a little. After all, we need to strike that balance in life. Yes, let’s work on our well-being in retirement, but let’s have some fun along the way.

How Couples Can Navigate Retirement Together – Planning & Harmony in Later Life

A happy senior couple holds hands while walking along a sunny beach in Portugal, enjoying a romantic moment.

As retirement becomes a longer and more complex chapter of life, many couples are discovering that this new freedom also brings new challenges. Recent UK divorce trends highlight the importance of staying connected during this transition. While overall divorce rates have fallen in the past two decades, separations amongst adults aged 60 and over have risen sharply, with the number of later-life divorces doubling since the early 1990s. Today, around 3 in 10 divorces involve someone over 50, and projections suggest this may increase further.

These shifts signal a simple truth: thriving in retirement isn’t just about good finances, important though that is. It’s also about nurturing, harmony, good communication and having a shared purpose. In this post, we will explore practical ways couples can plan and adapt as they navigate retirement together.

How to Find Motivation in Retirement: 5 Gentle Psychological Strategies to Help You Get Things Done – Part 1.

Senior man playing an acoustic guitar on a wooden dock by a calm lake, enjoying nature.

Retirement brings freedom from deadlines and routines, but many of us discover that without structure, it can be harder than expected to feel motivated and engaged. If you’re wondering how to stay motivated after retiring, you’re not alone. In this article, we explore proven psychological techniques — from habit-stacking and self-talk (my favourite psychological strategy hands down) to identity shifts and curiosity-driven routines — to help you rediscover purpose, build momentum in your days, and feel excited about what you can do next in your life.

How To Build New Friendships Later in Life.

Finding Connection, Confidence, and Companionship When You’re Starting from Scratch.

When Friendship Feels Far Away

It can be an unsettling moment: you reach retirement and realise the social circle you once had has quietly faded. The colleagues you laughed with every day are still working, the children have flown the nest, neighbours are keeping themselves busy, and some dear friends are sadly no longer around.

The Joy of Doing the Unexpected. Part 1

Senior man enjoying skateboarding on a quiet, tree-lined street during the day.

We often think of retirement as a time of slowing down, but for some in life, it can become the complete opposite – a time, perhaps, where societal rules no longer apply. Across the world, people in their 60s, 70s, 80s and older are proving age is no barrier to doing something – well, a little unexpected, shall we say. Not for them sitting back and watching daytime television, or decluttering the cupboard under the stairs. They want a little bit more out of life. From DJing in nightclubs through to transforming a garden into a mini wild-west town, these individuals are bucking the rules that we can sometimes fall into the trap of setting for ourselves.

Before It’s Too Late: Lessons for a Life Well Lived.

This post is inspired by the wisdom shown in Bronnie Ware’s book ‘The Top Five Regrets of the Dying’, published in 2011. For those who may not have come across this individual before, Bronnie Ware was an Australian palliative nurse who cared for patients in the last 12 weeks of their lives. She used to write a blog where she recorded the dying epiphanies of her patients. This blog garnered a lot of attention, so much so that she decided to put her findings into a book – hence ‘The Top Five Regrets of the Dying’ was born.