I stopped working a year ago, so it’s obviously time for an Annual Retirement Review. It’s time to discuss my achievements of the past year, areas that need improvement, my goals for the next year and training requirements.
I think the main challenge for any newly retired couple is adjusting to spending more time together over the course of one year than they have in all their life together so far. And my husband and I have also shared a car. So, my main achievement is probably still being married.
One overall area for improvement springs to mind: waste less time. I need to spend less time reading the newspaper. This would also be of great benefit to my mental health.
Goal number 1: Walk 1,000 miles. This past year I resolved to follow the Proclaimers’ lead and walk 500 miles. I downloaded a walking app on my phone and set strict rules on which miles would be counted and which wouldn’t. I decided that I was only allowed to include miles walked in addition to my normal activity, meaning that miles walked around the house or the supermarket don’t count, but walking around London or other interesting places does. This wasn’t an enormous challenge (I’m at 450 miles already in October), but that might be because I often forget to turn off my walk meter and I then realise that it’s still running while I’m on a train or in a car. Next year Vanessa Carlton and her song will be my inspiration and I will walk 1,000 miles, although mine won’t be as romantic because I won’t be walking all that way just to see someone that night. I’m quite a practically minded person and that seems like a pretty poor return for so much effort. And I’ll try to remember to turn off the app when I’m in the car or on the train, unless of course it’s getting near to the end of the year and my total needs a bit of a boost.
Goal number 2: Improve my French. I’m not terribly optimistic about this one. My goal this year was to improve my Spanish so that I could wow everyone when I got to Mexico. I did study some Spanish at school, but that’s a long time ago and although I fondly imagined that reams of fluent Spanish were lurking in my brain, waiting to be uncovered, this didn’t turn out to be the case. I tried listening to Spanish podcasts, but understood little beyond the first ‘Hola’. Sadly, I lack the discipline to sit down and apply myself for long, and studying seems so much harder than it used to be. Nothing sticks. I’ll take my Spanish phrase book with me on the plane and hope for a miracle of osmosis. It doesn’t bode well for French fluency in the coming year.
Training requirements: language classes would probably be a waste of time. Retraining as a plumber or electrician is probably my best option. As our cash reserves dwindle, I’m thinking that some marketable skills would come in very handy.
Overall assessment: 6.5/10
Don’t be so hard on yourself, you have achieved a lot this year, including helping out your colleagues, and being such a good and kind friend. Oh and walking 500 miles 🎉🎉