By: Michael Beiter

I've got a handful of retirees in my book.

They are some of the best clients.

I just got off the phone with one who is wintering down south for another month. It's her first year that she and her husband fled the Iowa winter, and they loved it!

In working with this population, I've observed that each person has a different retirement ideal.

There is no one size fits all approach, just like nutrition and fitness. Personalization is the name of the game.

My retirement-aged clients are scared, depressed, and intimidated by what lies ahead. I wondered why, and through my research came to the easy conclusion: this is a new thing for people, and we don't have much practice with it.

We need models for successful retirement for careers, home building, and athletics.

Don't get me wrong, retirement is okay; we're still just novices with the whole thing, and it will take many generations to emulate suitable models.

In the interim, experts in the field agree on one mindset shift: retirees' number one job is to exercise and eat right.

The clients I've helped are in good spots, their careers earned them a comfortable retirement, but it doesn't take more than six months to become listless, bored, and depressed from lack of purpose. They give themselves to their families, business, and communities for their whole lives, then get a pass to do whatever they want. Society is done with them; next in line.

The successful ones accept this boon and enjoy the hell out of their time while maximizing their self-care. The failures take the same, but instead of acting, they become lethargic; instead of flourishing, they flounder.

When asked about her first winter away from Iowa, my 58-year-old gal said: "We learned that we need to live less like we're on vacation and more like we've just moved somewhere else."

I asked her to elaborate on the difference between a vacation and home living.

"Living is eating in, making our own food, and doing free and foodless activities."

"So, can I presume vacations are all about eating out, having other cooks for you, and doing paid-for activities full of food and booze?" I finished.

"Precisely," she concluded.