Did your personality change after retirement?

[Walt34]

Like many others I'm more relaxed and patient because I don't have to deal with work stresses any more. It's easy to spend an entire day just putzing around and not accomplish anything. And that doesn't bother me a bit.

 

[Danmar]

Maybe a little less outgoing and aggressive. These were traits that served me well while working but not so much now. Took a while to "decompress" once retired and during this period I was a bit irritable and short tempered I think.

 

[Free]

DW says I'm much less stressed and have gone from a Type A+ personality to a B+. Laid back and mellow is my goal.

 

[FreeBear]

Ref the earlier poster having a job that required extroversion: I found that almost everything one can do to earn a living is heavily biased towards that. Some more than others but when your threshold is low to begin with, you're already maxed out right out of the gate

+1

In school and at the beginning of my career, I hoped to hide my introvert self in engineering. I avoided sales and management like the plague. Well, engineering in my old w*rkplace devolved over the years. Private offices and lab spaces filled with piles of obscure equipment (yes!) devolved into open office layout or tiny cubes.

When I first started my career, I'd w*rk nearly alone for days at a time. Collaboration increased as I gained seniority and w*rked on bigger projects, but I'd typically meet with just a few folks on my teams maybe once a week. Real stuff was done alone or with 1-2 other people on an ad hoc basis. Life was pretty good.

By the time I bailed out, project management dragged me into several meetings daily. During the meeting, at least the PM got to finish his meeting notes and PowerPoints. The rest of the team pretty much wasted time and, as for me, I followed you guys on ER forum on my phone app.
Between meetings and paperw*rk, I'd do real w*rk, and hunt down folks I really did needed to talk regarding actual projects.

Extroverts seem to do well in this climate of constant meetings and self promotion. Now I feel bad for introverts who want to go into engineering; from others threads it sounds like IT and software are even worse in terms of work environment. What's an introvert to do these days, except perhaps to FIRE?

 

[ER Eddie]

Interesting replies, thank you (OP here). Mostly what I expected -- more patient, less stressed, more relaxed -- and some surprises (more grumpy, ha).

Re. the "shedding of the work persona," I noticed a big shift in that when I hit financial independence, a few years ago (though I continue to work).

Financial independence was a huge key for me. It allowed me to be much more of my real self in the workplace. I didn't need to do the impression-managing dances at work anymore and worry about whether my boss liked or approved of me. I didn't have to shape myself according to the organizational climate. I didn't have to worry about whether my department was making money. I didn't have to worry about whether administration approved of me or not. I didn't have to play the political games that other people have to play (e.g., not saying certain things to "higher ups," needing to go to certain events or to be seen as a "team player" in order to protect themselves).

I was suddenly free of all that, by being financially independent. That was a wonderful feeling. It has enabled me to be more of who I really am in the workplace. There is less dissonance between my core personality and my work persona. Sure, I still play the professional role, but I feel less of a need to constrain my behavior in order to protect my job security. It's a wonderful freedom.

 

[kcowan]

DW says I'm much less stressed and have gone from a Type A+ personality to a B+. Laid back and mellow is my goal.

A+ to B- for me after 14 years.

 

[MBAustin]

I still have a lot of Type A tendencies, but I am more forgiving and less reactive to things that happen that aren't really important. As others have stated, also much less stressed about things like waiting in line.

 

[CaptTom]

Re. the "shedding of the work persona," I noticed a big shift in that when I hit financial independence, a few years ago (though I continue to work).

Good point. For me it was a slow process, and for the record, I still don't consider myself "FI".

About a year before I pulled the trigger, I was already eligible to retire, and my attitude changed, much as Eddie describes.

I also didn't sweat the small stuff as much. Stupid decisions and MegaCorp policies that would previously have been frustrating were just amusing.

 

[48Fire]

My personality definitely changed. Although some of it was a regression to my former self (20 year old) and a don't give a crap attitude. Sometimes it was a little over the top, admittedly I had to tone it down some.

 

[brucethebroker]

Like many others I'm more relaxed and patient because I don't have to deal with work stresses any more. It's easy to spend an entire day just putzing around and not accomplish anything. And that doesn't bother me a bit.

Well said-I agree.

 

[dirt_dobber]

A lot more relaxed and even more people friendly. Patience has increased and a little less fear of caring what others think/thought.

Oh - one more thing - not caring at all what I am wearing!!!!!!

 

[Ally]

Less anxious, less stressed, less irritable. Happier, more outgoing, but still an introvert.

 

[street]

Less stress has changed me from not getting in a hurry anymore. What ever I do now I try to take my time and smell the roses.

 

[ls99]

No. Still a cormudgeon. Now where is my certificate?

 

[foxfirev5]

+1 . After ER I'm still an introverted curmudgeon. However there is no need to fake it for the man. Life is good.

 

[tmm99]

Less stressed for sure which makes me calmer in general. At the same time though, I seem to have lost my patience for any type of BS. Maybe this state of being is my true state. I like hanging around with honest, modest people.


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[aja8888]

I can't say that my personality has actually changed as I am not sure that can happen in a short while.

What may change is your daily environment that will influence how you react to things in that new setting. I think what's going on with me is that I am trying to figure out who I really am and how to manage myself in this new environment. As a poster above stated, we had a "work persona" and now we don't have that operational feature anymore.

 

[kimcdougc]

Nope, haven't had any personality changes. Still the same tell it like it is and don't care what you think attitude. Living life to the fullest now and then.

 

[devans0]

I did a lot of shift work and sometimes crazy hours. Being tired, overheated and with earliest symptoms of heat exhaustion everyday was not letting me be a pleasant person for too much of the time.

Now, I'm comfortable and well rested. That has helped my outlook and personality.

 

[HadEnuff]

I'm about to take my first airline trip since retirement. I used to get anxious about weather delays, because I "had" to be back on a certain day to work. I was anxious going out because I only had so many days to spend there, and anxious on the return.
I notice the weather forecast looks pretty crappy for departure day, and I don't feel the anxiety because it doesn't matter so much when I get there or when I get back. In fact, it doesn't matter at all.
That same thinking has influenced me on all of the day-to-day stuff; longer lines in the store, slow people in my way....
so, yeah, definitely more patient.
BTW, what does "ntj" and ENTJ" stand for?

 

[48Fire]

Google Myers Briggs for personality types

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