- Kelly Benthall, 53, and her husband withdrew early and were traveling since August.
- She realized that her life as a retiree seeks strategies she accumulated throughout her career.
- Once a week, she meets her husband to review finances, travel planning and approximation of advantages.
For more than 30 years, I helped companies ranging from beginnings to giants like Shell and Chevron sail strategic change. As a consultant, I focused on leading organizations through uncertainty – always with a mentality of servants’ leadership.
Now, in retirement, I am no longer the guide but the one who experiences first -hand transformation. In my field, which was mainly focused on managing changes, there is a saying: “Drink your champagne”. It is about practicing what you preach – not only in business but also in your personal life.
I once worked with an executive who had a reputation to promote the difference – he was simply not great to live on his own. At that time, our company was promoting faster ways of working, but resistance was everywhere.
I suggested he stops to show and start telling.
At our next company meeting, instead of another directive, he entered with a bottle of champagne. “We say we are an innovative company, but do we act as one?” he asked. “Today, I’m drinking my champagne.”
Then, a slide rose that read, “Here I was wrong.” He accepted in the wrong calculations, poor assumptions and areas where he would underestimate the challenge. It was a player of the game. The team saw that it was okay to take risks, try and fail and talk about what was not working.
Retirement, for me, has become the last “champagne test”, and I have discovered that embracing personal change is more difficult – and more useful – than training others through it.
Embracing change through slow journey
Last August, at 54, I retired early to explore the world. My husband, Nigel and I have hugged slow journey. Leaving the board room for this adventure -filled lifestyle has tested our fitness.
I’ve always dreamed of a lifestyle of travel, but I never had funds to make it a reality. When I met Nigel in Houston, we were both working on oil and gas. I shared my pension vision and through regular controls with our financial advisor, Nigel slowly became satisfied with the idea. We have worked hard to optimize our portfolio, to shift fund funds with fixed income and shorten expenses significantly. Just over six months ago, we made the jump.
Leaving behind the contention of performance appreciation and Sunday’s intimidation it felt like true freedom – and it is. But I had not predicted how much I would miss a valuable partner, the close relationships I would form during training and a sense of intention to help others succeed.
I soon realized that while the landscape of my life had changed, my need for vision, strategy and influence.
The humility of iteration
As a change manager, I often explained how the brain blooms in innovation – every new experience builds nerve connections, keeping our minds sharp. The pension looked like the perfect time to put that science on the test.
Nigel and I hugged slow journey to stretch. We decided to buy train tickets in Spain to explore Andalusia, spent days in Croatian markets and tried to recreate our favorite dishes in Lecce, Italy.
These experiences were not just fun; They were growing exercises, construction of sustainability and flexibility, and they helped create connections.
One of the most humble aspects of slow trip has begun from zero – the deciphering of equipment, navigating health care and acceptance, “we do not know what we are doing”. This reflects the repetitive process in the business: Growth comes from embracing failure, effort and learning.
Rediscovery at Scuba in Grand Baie, Mauritius, after decades was a personal memory of this truth. Nigel’s gaze starts as a novice as I tried to recover the confidence underlined how much value stands in the fresh beginning. Iteration is not about perfection; It is about learning through doing, whether redesigning a product or renewing a skill.
Making a change through the journey
But slow journey has not been just for personal growth. For us, it has also been to leave a positive sign wherever we go. Having a goal and guidance principles scratched the itching I have developed during my days of counseling, when driving significant results was my measure of success.
Now, we are applying the same opinion on our trips. Sometimes, it’s just as simple as getting trash on a beach. Other times, it is more involved, such as volunteering at a community center in Seville or harvesting grapes in a family -run wine in Croatia.
Still, I will admit that we are far from the perfect. Without external responsibility, it is easy to allow good intentions to take a back on the emotion of exploring new places.
To stay grounded, we have adopted a schedule: once a week, we hold a “business meeting” where I, like CEO, focus on the goals of big pictures while Nigel, like Chief operating officerdigs into detail. We review finances, plan travel and line up with short and long -term advantages. This rhythm provides structure and keeps us focused on creating the impact when exploring new destinations.
Lessons from the champagne test
Our trips feel like an extended initiative of behavior change, only this time, I am the client. The strategies I once learned of others are now forming my experience. Leaving the corporate world meant to get into an unexplained but not inexplicable life. Pension has been an exercise in the value of reimony – both personal and global.
This trip has taught me to embrace imperfection. For someone who thrives on strategy and execution, not having all the answers is humble. Pension, like management of change, is about the agile attitude.
The champagne test is not about perfection; It’s about progress. During my years in the business world, success was measured in metric – KPI, income, results. Retired, measured in moments: Have I made a difference? Did I hug the unknown? Did I stay curious?
I have always enjoyed a glass of champagne, and now I am learning to enjoy the metaphorical bubble.
Do you have a personal essay on early retirement to travel you want to share? Contact the editor: akarPlus@businsinsider.com.