At the age of 52, George Jerjian was diagnosed with a bone tumour and given six months to live. Thankfully, the diagnosis was wrong and it led to him having a new lease on life.
George chose to semi-retire, which was a decision he soon came to regret and knew he had to do something about. Speaking about his diagnosis journey, he said: “In 2007, at the age of 52, I was diagnosed with a bone tumour and given six months to live.
"It was a misdiagnosis, and I survived, but I had to semi-retire. After the first couple of years of retirement, I became very bored - I had friends, family, money, and my newly restored good health, but it wasn't enough.
"I went on holiday, played golf, and met friends for lunch but after the honeymoon period this became dull, and monotony set in. I lost my identity, confidence, and self-respect and I was stuck in this rut for about 10 years.”
Describing the thought of fully retiring as 'terrifying', he set his mind on finding a new career path. Speaking to Officeology , George continued: “Despite having all the freedom to do what I wanted, I found myself restless, looking to fill my time with activities which just didn’t fulfil me.
"I was so unhappy with my experience of retirement that if I continued in that vein, it would be a downward spiral to old age, and that’s not something I was prepared to let happen - it was my biggest motivator. There were no jobs for someone like me, so I had to create something new.
"I chose to learn about mindset change, so I trained under success coach Bob Proctor for 18 months and set up my own business for people who, like me, found the retirement dream to be a fallacy. I wanted to help people in retirement and those planning for it find a new way of living, and I hope that my eight-week program will become an essential ongoing education for retirees who want a new beginning after their retirement from their work.”
Since embarking on his new career path, George has experienced a shift in his wellbeing, leading him to a happier. As he reflects on his journey, he states that his perception of work has changed throughout the years.
He said: "While I would not define it as challenges or obstacles, one could argue that I do not have the same physical energy I used to have in my 40s or 50s, which means I must manage what I put my energy in. When I was younger, I would fritter away my energy simply because I could. Now, I am older and hopefully wiser, I have become better at saying ‘no’, and declining to do work that does not serve me.”
“In the past 50 years of my life, work for me was essentially about making money, but today, my perception of work is serving your own purpose and doing what you love. As Roman statesman Cicero said, “old age is the crown of life”, and I believe that in old age, the best is yet to come for us if only we believe in it.”
