Welcome to the Every Night's Friday Night Blog

Welcome to Every Night’s Friday Night!

It’s with great pleasure that I welcome you to the Every Night’s Friday Night blog. I wrote  Every Night’s Friday Night: Time and Freedom for the Rest of Your Life as a complement to my coaching services. My company, Third Stage of Life Consulting, and the book, focus on helping people transition from full time careers to what I call the third stage of life.

I refer to it as the transition to the third stage of life because it can happen at different ages. My clients tend to be around 50 years-plus.  Some are preparing for the shift toward retirement while others are already in a stage of active retirement.

Active retirement involves a combination of some type of work (often part time) combined with a focus on other activities, like volunteering, serving on a board, health and fitness, spirituality, creative ventures, travel, finances, or leisure time with friends and family.  

The third stage of life is an opportunity to shift gears and focus only on what you want to do and who you want to become.  Some people are very proactive and have it figured out. But many don’t, and end up feeling like they’re spending time on busywork, property maintenance, doctor’s appointments, or any activity that fills the time. Leisure is fun for a while, but then people miss working (even if they didn’t like their job that much) because they haven’t found a roadmap to transition to a new life of purpose.

I started the Third Stage of Life Consulting to use my background in executive coaching to share with others what I’ve learned about making this transition. I retired in 2016 from a demanding and all-encompassing career I truly enjoyed. I was fortunate to work for a good company where I had opportunities to learn, to be challenged by different management roles, and to make a difference in the lives of others. I retired after managing a large team of people I cared about who collaborated, had fun, contributed to others, and did their best work.

I was also ready to get started on new things I didn’t have time to do while I was immersed in my career. I was ready for time and freedom after working 12+ hour days for years! There were a combination of things I wanted to do in my retirement, so I developed a process for myself and my husband to help us decide how to approach our lives during this next stage.

When I heard that others were also looking for a roadmap, I decided to use this process with clients who were going through the same transition. People who knew that I spent years as an executive coach and career consultant said they were interested in working with me and many referred friends and colleagues.  

While building my private coaching practice focusing on the third stage of life, I wanted a book to recommend to my clients. I read everything I could get my hands on related to retirement and aging – 62 books in total! I can tell you that there is a lot out there, but I couldn’t find one that covered all of the topics I was discussing with my clients. And so, Every Night’s Friday Night: Time and Freedom for the Rest of Your Life was born.  

It took me a year to write the book. There were many times I wasn’t sure I’d make it to the end. I learned to trust the process, I knew if I was meant to get it done, I’d get it done. I found lots of people who wanted to see the book completed, who also offered names of friends and colleagues to interview, or suggested topics to cover.  

I wrote it while doing a lot of other things in addition to building my coaching practice, but that’s a story I’ll save for the book. You can buy Every Night’s Friday Night: Time and Freedom for the Rest of Your Life here. It’s my hope that it helps you create the best third stage of your life possible. I encourage you to contact me with comments about the book or for information on working together.