There are moments in life when we reach the end of something and almost immediately find ourselves asking a deceptively simple question:
What next?
Sometimes it comes after an accomplishment. We worked toward a goal for months or years, finally reached it, celebrated for a minute—and then realized we have to decide where we're going from here.
Other times, what next? finds us standing at a crossroads.
Which college should I attend? Where should I move for that first job? Do I stay in the job I'm in, or is it time to go? Is that promotion really a step forward if it takes me further away from the life I want? And somewhere along the way, we begin asking whether work-life balance means fitting life around our work—or finally making room for a life that matters to us.
The questions change as we do.
And then retirement starts appearing on the horizon.
For years, retirement can feel like a finish line. But maybe it isn't. Maybe it's simply another what next?
Do we continue living pretty much as we always have, only without going to work every morning? Or could this be an opportunity to begin again? To travel. Create. Volunteer. Start something. Learn something. Spend more time with people we love. Or finally explore that idea we've been quietly carrying around for years.
There isn't one right answer.
Making these decisions requires a little heart and a little head. Our head reminds us to consider money, responsibilities, consequences and reality. Our heart asks something equally important:
What do I actually want?
We need both.
Because the biggest what next? moments aren't always about moving forward in the way other people expect. Sometimes success means changing direction. Sometimes it means slowing down. Sometimes it means walking away. And sometimes it means taking a chance on something that makes absolutely no sense to anyone but you.
Listen to advice. Consider the consequences. Think it through.
But remember whose life you're deciding about.
You can't live it for your parents, your children, your friends, your coworkers—or for people who might have an opinion about what you should do.
In the end, the next chapter is yours to write.
So...
What next?
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