Retirement Goggles

Oh, how I loathe Beer Goggles. You’ve been drinking all night, and all of sudden, the nerdy guy from across the room has morphed into David Beckham. Next thing you know, you’re making out with him, and your friends can’t get your drunk ass out of the bar.

Then, the morning comes around. You wake up in a panic realizing that you spent last night smooching Steve Urkel. Not to mention, you gave him your number. It’s been nine hours since you’ve last seen him, and he has texted you a whopping *twenty-seven* times.

Stupid Beer Goggles.

When I left my job to become a solopreneur, I caught a *bad* case of Retirement Goggles. They’re kind of like Beer Goggles but without the hangover. And let me tell you, these Goggles can seriously alter your life if you don’t do something about them.

What the Heck Are Retirement Goggles?

Retirement Goggles are very similar to Beer Goggles. They arise when you are ready to leave a job and next thing you know, it starts to look like the greatest job on the face of the planet. You only see the wonderful things about it and then seriously consider not leaving after all.

Your friends try to talk some sense into you, but you don’t see what they see. You somehow forget everything that made you want to leave in the first place. Your judgment is clouded, and you’re stuck in a fog.

I had a case of Retirement Goggles when I quit my teaching job to become a solopreneur.

I planned for the day I would quit for nine months – nine long months. And when it came time to do it, I ran through all of the wonderful things about my job in my head – the awesome kids, the goofy conversations we had, the fun lunches with my fellow teachers, the feeling I had the last day of school when the whole summer was ahead of me.

I thought, “I’m going to leave all of this behind….but I love this!”

My job looked like Beckham, and I wasn’t going to let it go. I mean, who could possibly give up David Beckham?! He’s such as stud!

My case of Retirement Goggles was SO bad that I met with my boss to tell him I was resigning, did in fact tell him I was resigning, and walked out of the meeting without resigning. I actually had to quit (again) the next day. What a mess.

It turns out, my friends were right. My job was actually Urkel – and boy am I glad I realized that sooner than later.

Why You Need to Take Off The Goggles If You Want to Start Living Your Dream

You need to realize that Retirement Goggles, like Beer Goggles, prevent you from seeing things clearly. They cloud your judgment and make you see things in the wrong light.

You need to break through the fogginess if you ever want to live your dream.

I’m not going to lie. It isn’t going to be easy. You may miss your old job. You may even have second thoughts. I sure did.

But that’s the fear talking.

The fear that the grass isn’t greener on the other side.
The fear that you may not succeed.
The fear that you could be making the worst decision of your life.

But I want you to know, even if it is the worst decision of your life, it is a decision you HAVE to make. If you don’t, you’ll never know what you could have achieved.

You’re capable of much more and deep down inside, you know it. However, the Goggles are trying to tell you otherwise.

You have to take them off.

Leave the fear behind, follow your heart, and don’t let The Goggles keep you from living your dreams.

Have you ever caught a case of The Goggles? I would love to hear about it in the comments below.