'We all need purpose when we wake up in the morning': Finding meaning in retirement leads to happiness and health

By Chris Farrell

The concept of purpose is sure having a moment

Talk to Carl Landau, age 66, and you'll quickly find out that he likes a good (and bad) joke and a laugh. An entrepreneur since the age of 26, he retired in 2019 when he sold his live-events and trade-show business Niche Media. It didn't take long for him to "unretire" by starting Pickleball Media, a lower-key business built around the podcast "I Used to be Somebody" and the book "Pickleball for Dummies," which he co-authored. (In case you were wondering, he really likes pickleball.)

Landau recently reflected on what he has learned during his three years of unretirement in a thoughtful LinkedIn post. One lesson in particular stands out: the importance of purpose.

"The one universal thread that rings true (and I know it might sound obvious) is we all need purpose when we wake up in the morning to get out of bed. It doesn't matter what that purpose is, whether it's spending time with a grandchild, starting a new company, volunteering for a cause you are passionate about or playing a sport like pickleball. You've got to have that drive. And for extra credit, if you create a diverse set of passions, all the better."

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A similar sentiment highlighting purpose informs a series of reports on retirement by Age Wave, the demographic consulting firm, and the financial-services company Edward Jones. Purpose is one of the four pillars of retirement, along with health, family and finances. "Retirees with purpose are happier, healthier, more active, and more socially engaged," notes the latest Age Wave report, "Resilient Choices: Trade-Offs, Adjustments, and Course Corrections to Thrive in Retirement." "They even live longer."

The concept of purpose is sure having a moment. In essence, purpose is what makes life worth living, one's reasons for getting up in the morning. Purpose is also about being engaged in activities bigger than your own needs and wants.

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"If you're not serving, you're not living a purposeful life," says Richard Leider, author of several best-selling books on purpose, including "Who Do You Want to Be When You Grow Old?: The Path of Purposeful Aging." "Serving doesn't mean you have to be Mother Teresa, or Gandhi, or sign up for a cause. But you have to have a reason to get up in the morning beyond your own self-absorption."

Several factors account for the current explosion of interest in purpose. Among them: The pandemic pushed many people, including older adults, to reevaluate their lives and how they spend their time; scientific researchers have uncovered intriguing connections between waking up with a sense of purpose and improved physical and mental well-being (and vice versa); and the knowledge that living with purpose leans against the debilitating effects of loneliness and social isolation that "represent profound threats to our health and well-being," warns Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, the U.S. surgeon general.

"A sense of meaning positively contributes to health because it motivates greater self-regulation in pursuing goals -- including health goals," notes the recent public health publication "The Surgeon General's Advisory on Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation." "Furthermore, evidence suggests that individuals with higher purpose and perceived emotional and practical support from their social networks are more likely to engage in health-promoting behaviors, such as the use of preventive healthcare services."

Another major influence behind the embrace of purpose is the grassroots movement reimagining the retirement years. Older workers are better educated and living longer than previous generations (on average), especially people with postsecondary education and white-collar careers. Fewer older workers nearing retirement are thinking about the next stage of their lives as full-time leisure and increasingly as a time for additional explorations and challenges, as well as for fun. The search for purpose is about finding meaning in a portfolio of activities during the retirement years.

Take the experience of Ross McGlasson, age 85. Like many people his age, he can look back on a full life and long career. He and his wife, Martha, had 60 years together, three kids, six grandchildren, five dogs and a house on a lake. He spent a dozen years in the Navy before taking a job at AT&T (T). Five years later, he left the telecommunications company for IBM (IBM), and the rest of his career was at the computer giant. He finally said goodbye to work in 2002 following a health scare.

He and his wife deliberately built purpose into the retirement years by contributing their time, expertise and money to the Rotary Club, their church and other community-minded organizations. "We had a lot of purpose," he says.

While the importance of living with purpose doesn't change, what gives life meaning can evolve with the passage of time and different circumstances. Eighteen months ago, his wife died from leukemia. When she got sick two years before her death, they sold their lakefront home and moved into a continuing-care community in Excelsior, Minn. McGlasson became his wife's primary caregiver. He is now thinking about bringing greater purpose back into his life, but he also knows he doesn't have the same energy he had in early retirement, and he often has to decline the kind of engagements he and his late wife welcomed.

"Now I am in the process of rethinking my purpose, not that the old ones are irrelevant, but I have new perspectives that make me rethink them," he says. "What should my purpose be?"

While talking about what he's doing these days, McGlasson seems curious and, yes, purposeful. There is his family, of course, with children and grandchildren living nearby. He is also busy in his continuing-care community. He asks residents lots of questions. He organizes TED-style talks at the facility, and he's working on a one-day university event.

"I am struggling to make sure what I am doing is purposeful," he says. "I make a lot of mistakes, but I do the best that I can."

There is no shortage of resources to help older adults research and contemplate their purpose.

Leider has authored and co-authored several books on purpose. Joe Casey in "Win the Retirement Game: How to Outsmart the 9 Forces Trying to Steal Your Joy" focuses on purpose in planning for retirement. The Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley, offers various tools for uncovering purpose. A rich resource to tap is CoGenerate, a nonprofit organization that brings together older and younger generations to collaborate on solutions to pressing societal challenges.

The transition to retirement is one of life's biggest adjustments. Building the search for purpose into retirement planning can improve the quality of life in the next phase. It can also benefit the wider society.

-Chris Farrell

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07-15-23 1514ET

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