Q: Last week, you answered a reader who was vacillating on whether or not to take early retirement.

The recommendation was to “figure out who and what you’re going to be when you retire,” by basically creating a one year plan for places, people, hobbies, and volunteer causes to be undertaken. Good, practical advice. However, what you left out was the psychological effect of retirement.

What if –like me- after your best laid plans you find your friends, hobbies and volunteerism leave you feeling dissatisfied? What do you recommend then?

A: That’s a very good point.

Whereas some people may find their newly found retirement-freedom to be exiting and fulfilling, -and a relief from the burden of a stressful job- there are others that will miss all the action. They may feel like they’re not using their full potential, that their “retired” life seems trivial. As if they went out to pasture too soon.

And for others, not having to raise a family and make a living may for the first time create a new opening and enough bandwidth to contemplate the bigger life questions: why are we here? What’s my purpose?

In my opinion, the psychological aspect and effect of retirement is largely underestimated and an area often overlooked. Specially for high achievers. Everyone plans for their retirement finances ad nauseam. But no one is prepared when retirement does a number on their head and identity. Because it will. (Someday I hope to write a book about this).

So what to do if –after a year- retirement is not living up to the hype?   Well, the answer is highly personal. Only you can find it after doing some serious internal work, pinpointing your dissatisfaction (unique to each of us) and how to address it so that you can live life with YOUR purpose. I do have a few suggestions to get you started:

A website. Encore.org “second acts for the greater good” is a non-profit describing itself as “an innovation hub tapping the talent of people 50+ as a force for good”.

A book. Julia Cameron the author of the classic The Artist’s Way has written a book for boomers titled It’s Never Too Late to Begin Again. Don’t be turned off by word “artist”, the book is about self exploration and discovery.

An Idea. I recommend you bring up the subject with your peers. I find that many people of a certain age are willing to cut through polite conversation and talk honestly about their perspectives of this stage of life.

Lastly, a question for readers: Are you retired or near retirement? What are your thoughts and experiences, hopes and fears? Let me hear from you.

©Copyright Eva Del Rio

Eva Del Rio is creator of HR Box™ – tools for small businesses and startups. Send questions to Eva@evadelrio.com