'There is no happiness in this topic for me … I hate it,' Serena Williams says about retiring from tennis. And her experience is one that has been shared by many people stepping away from careers they loved. But there is hope for the next chapter.
The sports icon notes in her Vogue cover story that she’s “evolving away from tennis.” She doesn’t like the word “retirement,” she says, because “it doesn’t feel like a modern word to me.” And indeed, Williams, who turns 41 in September, isn’t giving up working for good; she plans to continue growing her venture-capital firm, Serena Ventures, as well as growing her family.
— Serena Williams But it’s important to note that Williams isn’t alone here. Many people approach retirement with mixed feelings that can include sadness, regret, disappointment, fear and anxiety — even if they don’t talk about it. In fact, almost one in three retirees develops symptoms of depression, according to a 2020 meta-analysis of 11 studies analyzing the prevalence of depression in retirement.
“So to the extent that your identity is wrapped up in ‘what I do’ — instead of ‘who I am’ in total — retirement is going to be incredibly difficult,” he added.And exacerbating these questions of identity and purpose is the loneliness and lack of structure that retirement can bring, noted Dr. Mark Aoyagi, a professor and co-director of sports performance psychology at the University of Denver.
“Not wanting to be alive is very scary, and I have felt it first hand,” Phelps told MarketWatch in 2017. But he’s found new purpose as a mental health advocate, including his recent documentary film project “The Weight of Gold” for HBO Sports.Ease into it, if possible If you have the ability to retire on your own terms, Aoyagi recommends slowly scaling in that change.
Stay connected with friends and colleagues As noted above, retirees can suffer feelings of loneliness and isolation once they are no longer going to a job every day. And social networks can disappear if most of your friends were at your former place of employment, or you move to a new community after you retire.
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