My Story
A Glimpse Into My Life –
A Unique Early Retirement Plan
The realization that “I ABSOLUTELY MUST RETIRE NOW!” hit me suddenly and unexpectedly on an early evening in the late fall of 1970. I was only 25 years old and didn’t know anyone else who had taken this sort of “impromptu early retirement plan” with the goal of finding and fulfilling their true life’s purpose.
Four and a half years earlier, I’d graduated from Brown University as a Russian major. Then, after two years of serving with the newly-formed Peace Corps in Colombia, South America, I was now living and working in Washington, DC.
As the Administrative Assistant to the Director of the Student National Education Association (a job I didn’t find particularly interesting), I was being paid well. A couple of weeks earlier, I’d made my first “big” purchase – a small stereo system. And, I was starting to think about what else I wanted to buy.
But that particular evening, everything changed. Walking the 10 blocks from my office to my apartment, I noticed I was feeling really “antsy” – like, the visceral response you get when you hear finger nails scratching on a blackboard….
I’d never experienced this kind of feeling before and it was just awful. And, I had absolutely no idea why I was feeling this way.
When I got up to my third-floor apartment, I practically threw myself into the overstuffed chair in my living room. Almost since birth, I’d discovered that I could get answers – really great answers – to very difficult problems from what, as a child, I called “The Big Me.”
I now connected with “The Big Me” by “going Infinite and asking for help” - a simple but powerful process I’ve shared with thousands of friends and clients over the decades.
This time I made a strong direct appeal to the Infinite-Eternal ONE. As I “Connected,” I said firmly, in my mind, “Okay, God, You and I need a conversation. I have no idea why I’m feeling this way and I don’t like it. And, I know that You DO know. So, I want You to know that I’m going to sit here in this chair until You tell me why I’m feeling like this.”
It took about 15 minutes. Suddenly the epiphany came, clear and dramatic - like the proverbial 10 tons of bricks landing on the top my head, dropped from 20 stories above:
I was getting addicted to the steady pay check!
The next thought was terrifying, “If I get addicted to the steady pay check, I might forget who I am and what I came here to this Earth to do in this lifetime!”
Then, “I’ve got to quit my job!!!…… NO!!! I’VE GOT TO RETIRE!!!”
Everything suddenly went very quiet in my mind…and then, I got the whole message:
“I’ve got to retire and do only what makes absolute sense to me for the rest of my life!”
Next, predictably, came the very loud “voice” that brilliantly uses scare tactics and limiting beliefs to keep you stuck in your current routine:
“BUT YOU’LL STARVE!!!”
A quiet, rational “voice” then observed calmly:
“No, you won’t starve. You have lots of skills and can earn enough money to live on. You type fast, you’re a wonderful babysitter, you’re great at helping people solve all kinds of problems in creative ways, you can walk dogs, translate and interpret several languages… Plus, you can learn new skills, too.”
The voice added, “You won’t starve. You just need to disconnect from the steady paycheck that distracts you from your real work. It’s as addictive as any drug and you have your own unique and important work that you came here to this Earth to do.”
Message received.
The next morning, I walked into my boss’ office. “I’m retiring,” I said simply.
I was 25 and looked about 15 back then. My boss stared at me in utter disbelief and then exclaimed, “YOU ARE WHAT??”
I explained. When I told him the part about “getting addicted to the steady paycheck and forgetting who I am and what I came here to this Earth to do,” he choked up and almost cried.
I suddenly realized, with great compassion, that he knew exactly what I meant…and that he’d gotten addicted to the steady paycheck and had never broken free. He’d never leaped off “The Cliff”….
The curious thing about leaping off “The Cliff” is that you suddenly discover you have wings! And, life with wings is truly amazing. When you trust and follow your Inner Guidance, surprising opportunities present themselves (often out of the blue) and somehow everything works out - usually in extraordinary and unanticipated ways.
During my final two weeks after giving notice at work, my boss and his boss both strongly encouraged me to apply for a much higher and better paid position that had just opened up: to be the personal secretary to the head of the entire National Education Association. I appreciated the compliment and thanked them for the suggestion. But, I explained, “I need to find my own path now.”
So, here I was, with two or three month’s worth of savings to my name and after that…The Great Unknown.
I had no idea what I’d do next. Yes, I felt a little nervous but mostly I was excited. I knew that “The Big Me” was always there to Guide me. And that the Guidance was totally trustworthy - as long as I did my part and followed it. I was now focused on finding my life’s purpose, my soul’s purpose – and getting the job done that I’d come to this Earth to do.
Indeed, ever since creating this “early retirement plan,” I’ve been surprised and delighted as the next steps just kept unfolding, unfolding, unfolding in amazing ways. Indeed, my friends tell me that my life is “epic.”
Along the way, I’ve both learned and created a variety of “life tools” – the mindsets, tools and processes that that have made the greatest difference in my own life and that I wish had been handed to me when I leaped off “The Cliff” 50 years ago. Today it is my great joy to be able to share these with my clients and colleagues, who all realize that they, too, each have a unique life purpose and vitally important gifts to share with the world.
