When I was consulting to a major financial company I worked with a person who was quite a successful manager. She had risen in the ranks and was earning a hefty six-figure income.

But as time passed she shared her deepest wish with me: she simply couldn’t wait to retire. This seemed odd, considering the fact that she was in her early fifties.

I asked her what she planned to do with all of her free time and she replied with glazed eyes, “I just want to fish.”

“Fish?”

“Yep, just go out on a lake by myself, cast a line, and kick back.”

I couldn’t imagine her being happy in a canoe instead of a corporate headquarters. But there are millions of people in the same boat.

Retirement looms large on their dreamy horizons. They can sleep in, stay up late, not answer to anybody, and just “be.”

Seems fair enough, doesn’t it? If they’ve been busting it for decades shouldn’t they be able to hang loose and waddle to a different drummer, or just let the parade pass them by?

But I sense in some who long for retirement that they don’t want to simply “be” as much as they long to be left alone. Having answered to others in businesses or occupations not of their own making, they can’t wait to place “do not disturb” signs on the doors leading to the rest of their lives.

For entrepreneurs and many independent professionals, the opposite may apply. As time passes they seem to get more joy from their labors instead of less. Some strive mightily to avoid having to retire.

A good example is Dr. F. William Sunderman, who died recently, at the age of 104. He was a man of many talents and pursuits.

Physician to the Manhattan Project in World War II, his research helped to cast light on topics as diverse as diabetes and lead poisoning in police officers. An accomplished musician, he played a 1694 Stradivarius violin at Carnegie Hall at the age of 99. Congress honored him as the nation’s oldest worker when he turned 100.

He loved to work. When interviewed by the Philadelphia Inquirer, he said he had friends who retired and drank more, got bored, and died. “Well, I want to live,” he asserted.

Quoted by the Los Angeles Times, Sunderman was convinced that “One of the most important items for longevity is the maintenance of a daily work schedule.”

According to management guru and my professor Peter F. Drucker, who worked well into his nineties, retirees miss working for other reasons. In addition to the work itself, “They miss the gossip,” he quips.

A dozen years have elapsed since that manager shared her retirement plans with me. Though I have nothing against fishing, I’m happy to report that she continues to work long, live long, and prosper.

Dr. Gary S. Goodman Copyright, 2006

Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of www.Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone® and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service. A frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide, Gary’s programs are offered by UCLA Extension and by numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations in the United States and abroad. Gary is headquartered in Glendale, California. He can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com

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