Are you at a crossroads? Wonder whether to dial up your life to achieve even more of what you’ve dreamed of – whether this is more responsibility, more visibility, acclaim, more money – or do something that’s socially meaningful?

Perhaps you want more balance – the option of 3-day weekends, time with family and friends, time to start that writing project you’ve always wanted to do, or to get fit, or to play a musical instrument?

Or are you looking toward downsizing from your mid-career or retiring completely from being employed? If so, do you know how to create a life that truly matters to you?

MetLife’s research organization has collaborated with educator, author, and executive coach Richard Leider to produce materials relevant to Boomers seeking The Good Life. You can access the Workbook for “Discovering What Matters: Your Guide to the Good Life” by going to: www.metlife.com/assets/cao/mmi/publications/studies/mmi-discovering-what-matters-workbook.pdf .

Here are a few headlines to introduce “Discovering What Matters:”
Leider uses the metaphor of “Repacking Your Bags” to embrace the next transition. The journey can often take us through several way-stations, not all of them comfortable.

We might encounter a wake-up call that challenges our normal ways of perceiving and operating. The wake-up call might be an illness, losing money we thought we could rely upon for our retirement, our children finally launched and no dependents to take care of, or a spiritual awakening. We’re prompted to change our lives – to ramp up or slow down and be in the moment.

What life lessons are you learning from this wake-up call? How has it inspired you on your journey? How has it limited your world view? These triggers can push you off balance – or be a catalyst for growth. When it’s a catalyst for growth, boomers, having lived through the idealistic times of the 60s and 70s, often want to discover what really matters.

In my TV show, called “Alivelihood,” I interview people who’ve left mid-years’ careers to enter unknown territory – where they experience passion, take risks, and court adventure that they might not have anticipated. One woman, a former VP for a computer company, retired in her 50s and discovered her love for photography, went back to school and became good enough to sell her photographs. Thrilled by the success, she still yearned for more: she wanted to “give back.” While on holiday in East Africa, she visited a middle school and fell in love with the children and teacher. She went home to create a foundation to raise money for the school. She’d found what truly mattered to her.

If we are knocked off balance by a wake-up call, an unexpected turnaround, we can go into “limbo,” Leider writes, where we withdraw, feel paralyzed, not knowing which direction to turn. All of our normal coping strategies might be deactivated (temporarily!). People who suddenly lose their jobs or lose a loved one know this limbo well. Those who enter limbo can benefit from professional help to assist them to move on to the next stage of the transition.

Once we shake ourselves out of limbo, we have the opportunity to “unpack,” in Leider’s words. Here we face solutions head-on, take stock, and explore. This is the time that a life coach, mentor, or a “mastermind” group can be most useful to help us creatively develop the next step.

When we “repack” – we take charge of the next act in our lives. We reinvent ourselves. We make choices. This stage in the process feels exhilarating as we are putting into action all of the pieces we’ve been struggling with for months, perhaps even years.

Where are you on this journey? What assistance can you bring to bear to navigate the path more deeply and come out reinventing your life into one that really matters?