Welcome to my YouTube channel

No matter what kind of life transition you’re going through, my videos will help you with your journey. Check them out below and subscribe to the channel here.

This is Part 1 of a four-part series on the four ingredients of a retirement that feels unmistakably yours — Connection, Purpose, Energy, and Vision. Today: Connection. When I retired, I thought I was prepared. I'd done the planning. I knew about the three phases of transition. And yet I felt overwhelmed. This video is about the question that took me months to answer and what I learned about Connection on the other side of it. 📖 Read the article this video is drawn from: https://artfulparent.com/jcb-the-retirees-who-age-with-the-softest-eyes-arent-the-ones-who-stayed-active-theyre-the-ones-who-let-three-things-quietly-rebuild-the-friendship-with-themselves-the-honesty-with-a-few-people-and/

📖 Read the companion article on Connection: https://jeanettebrown.net/the-question-i-sat-with-for-three-months-after-i-retired/

📖 The pillar article this series is built around: https://artfulparent.com/jcbi-retired-with-a-plan-and-still-felt-useless-here-are-the-four-ingredients-of-a-retirement-that-feels-unmistakably-yours-and-how-to-find-the-one-youre-missing/

Subscribe for the rest of the series:
#2 Purpose — coming soon
#3 Energy
#4 Vision

🟢 Try the free Thrive quiz (2 minutes, personalised reflection): https://thrive.jeanettebrown.net

Chapters
0:00 I thought I was prepared. I wasn't.
1:00 The four ingredients
1:18 Ingredient 1: Connection
2:17 Who am I now I'm not needed?
3:50 What started to shift
4:47 Straight from my heart
5:53 One thing to try this week
6:53 The quiz, the series, and what's next
The retirement question that took me three months to answer

The retirement question that took me three months to answer

This is Part 1 of a four-part series on the four ingredients of a retirement that feels unmistakably yours — Connection, Purpose, Energy, and Vision. Today: Connection. When I retired, I thought I was prepared. I'd done the planning. I knew about the three phases…
If you’re somewhere in this chapter — approaching retirement, newly retired, or a few years in and still finding your feet — I hope this video gives you a moment to pause and reflect on what this next stage of life is quietly asking of you.

And if you’d like to go a little deeper, I’ve created The Retirement Thrive Score — a free 2-minute quiz that gives you a personalised reading of where you are across four ingredients of a fulfilling retirement: Energy, Connection, Purpose, and Vision.

It’s for people who don’t just want to “fill time” in retirement, but want to create a life that feels unmistakably their own.

The quiz is based on the self-coaching framework in my course, Your Retirement, Your Way, and is designed to give you a gentle starting point for reflection.

→ Take the Retirement Thrive Score: https://thrive.jeanettebrown.net
The question I wish someone had asked me when I retired

The question I wish someone had asked me when I retired

If you’re somewhere in this chapter — approaching retirement, newly retired, or a few years in and still finding your feet — I hope this video gives you a moment to pause and reflect on what this next stage of life is quietly asking of…
In this final video of my Who Are You Now? series, I’m talking about a belief that keeps people stuck after they leave full-time work: the quiet thought that says, “It’s too late now.” I’ve heard this from so many people, and I’ve felt it myself. 

It’s never too late to become more yourself. Retirement doesn’t have to mean shrinking your dreams or settling into a smaller version of life. It can be a time to explore, experiment, create, contribute, and discover what still lights you up.

In this video, I’ll talk about:
– why the “it’s too late” belief is often really about fear
– how starting imperfectly can open doors you never expected
– why wisdom, resilience, and self-knowledge are powerful tools in later life
– how to give yourself permission to want more from this next chapter
This video closes the Who Are You Now? series, where we’ve explored identity, purpose, values, and designing a retirement that feels meaningful and true to who you are now. 

If you’d like to go deeper, you can explore my course Your Retirement, Your Way here:
https://thevessel.io/sp/your-retirement-your-way/

Or download my free guide here:
https://jeanettebrown.net/op/thrive-in-your-retirement/

I’d love to hear from you in the comments:
What’s one thing you’ve been putting off because you thought it was too late?
If this video speaks to you, please like, subscribe, and share it with someone who might need a little encouragement in their second act.
It's not too late

It's not too late

In this final video of my Who Are You Now? series, I’m talking about a belief that keeps people stuck after they leave full-time work: the quiet thought that says, “It’s too late now.” I’ve heard this from so many people, and I’ve felt it…
For the first stretch of my retirement, my diary was packed. Committees, classes, coffees, errands, and a hundred yeses I should never have given. I told everyone I was thriving. Quietly, I felt hollow.
Then I overcorrected. I cleared the diary. Tuesdays started to feel like Saturdays. I floated. And that didn’t feel right either.
If your retirement is starting to feel one of those two ways — too full, or too flat — this video is for you. It’s about the two traps almost every retiree falls into with their time, and the four-part framework I now use (and teach) to design days that actually feel like yours.
Here’s what we cover:
🔹  The Busyness Trap — why packing your diary leaves you feeling hollow
🔹  The Drifting Trap — why total freedom can feel like floating
🔹  The 4 Ingredients of a fulfilling retirement: Health & Vitality, Meaningful Connections & Growth, Living with Purpose, and Dreaming Big
🔹  The simple “draw your week” exercise I use
🔹  The one small change that can shift everything in your week

This is Video 3 in my “Who Are You Now?” series. In the final video, I’ll share the one belief that quietly keeps most retirees stuck — even when everything else looks fine.
Links:
📗  Read the companion article: https://jeanettebrown.net/design-days-retirement/
📘  Download my free guide — A Guide to Thriving in Your Retirement Years: https://jeanettebrown.net/op/thrive-in-retirement
🎓  Explore my course — Your Retirement, Your Way: https://thevessel.io/sp/your-retirement-your-way/
Catch up on the series:
▶  Video 1 — The Identity Crisis Nobody Talks About:https://youtu.be/99BZkplsTXc 
▶  Video 2 — You Are Not Your Job Title: https://youtu.be/OvvL9R7iUNw
Which of the four ingredients — Health & Vitality, Meaningful Connections & Growth, Living with Purpose, or Dreaming Big — is most missing from your week right now? Tell me in the comments. I read every one, and I think you’ll be surprised how many people share the same answer.
Hi, I’m Jeanette Brown, creator of Your Retirement, Your Way. This video is part of my series on rethinking identity, purpose, and happiness in the next stage of life.
#retirement #retirementlife #designyourdays #purposeafter60 #secondact #retirementcoach #whoareyounow #healthyaging #retirementtransition #wellbeingover60 #retirementplanning #fulfillingretirement
Designing your days in retirement

Designing your days in retirement

For the first stretch of my retirement, my diary was packed. Committees, classes, coffees, errands, and a hundred yeses I should never have given. I told everyone I was thriving. Quietly, I felt hollow. Then I overcorrected. I cleared the diary. Tuesdays started to feel…
Your Retirement, Your Way

Design a retirement you actually recognise as your own

A letter now and then

Every so often I send out reflections, resources and practical tools on designing this next chapter — the sort of thinking I'd share with a friend over coffee. If it sounds useful, come along.

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