Boost your mental health as a first responder or veteran with the Mind Pilot podcast, hosted by Dr. Jana Price-Sharps, a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in trauma and stress management. This essential podcast is designed for firefighters, police officers, EMS personnel, and veterans seeking practical strategies to enhance their mental well-being. Delve into topics like resilience, stress reduction, effective parenting, healthy relationships, coping with anxiety and depression, conquering nightmares, and setting achievable goals. Tune in to the Mind Pilot podcast and empower yourself with actionable tips and techniques tailored for first responders, ensuring greater overall well-being and a stronger mindset on the job.
Retirement brings sudden freedom, but without intentional planning, it can quickly turn into daily boredom, unhealthy habits, and physical decline. In this episode, Dr. Jana Price-Sharps discusses practical steps first responders and veterans can take to maintain purpose and stay connected to their communities. From picking up new hobbies and maintaining fitness to learning how to set boundaries, discover how to actively build the retirement you’ve earned.
Topics and Ideas Covered
Building Daily Structure & Purpose: Transitioning from rigid first responder or military schedules requires intentionally creating daily routines and finding meaningful community activities or hobbies.
Avoiding the "Recliner Trap": Inactivity, endless scrolling, and excessive drinking easily feed into isolation and depression; taking immediate action to get out of the house protects your long-term mental health.
Staying Physically Active & Planning Ahead: Committing to daily movement keeps your body healthy, while always having trips or outings scheduled gives you constant motivation and things to look forward to.
Setting Boundaries & Self-Care: First responders are wired to serve others, but retirement requires turning that focus inward, establishing personal boundaries, and giving yourself permission to say "no".
Good day. This is Dr. Janet Sharps from Mindpilot. Thanks for joining me today. This is part two of my retirement series. What do you do? You're retired. Now what? Well, the first thing that I want you to start thinking about is how do you structure your day? You've probably had somebody tell you when to show up, what to wear, what to do, almost every moment of your day if you're a first responder in the military. So now you're at home, what time are you gonna get up? What time are you gonna go to bed? What do you want to accomplish today? I think one of the hardest things about retirement for most people is when they're working, they have things they've got to do. They have projects or responsibilities. What happens though when you don't have that? So think about how can you give yourself some purpose in life? What can your purpose be? How do you develop purpose? I tell people, get involved in something in the community. You know, if you have a, I don't know, passion for dogs, then go work with like the SPCA, helping with the animals, or a place that re-homes animals. Or, you know, if you really like photography, go take a photography class and start doing some photography. Figure out something that you would really like to do, maybe things that you've put off for years, go do them. If you want to learn how to decorate cakes, go take a cake decorating class. Take something or do something that will bring you enjoyment. Do not allow yourself to get into the habit of just sitting in the house and not doing anything, scrolling on your phone, watching the TV, maybe drinking. Don't allow those habits to start because once those start, they're harder to get out of because then people get depressed and then they don't want to leave the house. So don't allow that to start. And if it's started, do something else. Take immediate action. Because that's where people get into trouble in retirement. They just kind of stay home. They sit in their recliner and they turn on the TV or they pick up their phone and they scroll and they just check out of life. Don't do that. That's where depression starts causing problems. Then you start having health problems because you're not active and you're isolated, and then you start thinking about old things and old calls and old this and old that. And now your brain gets really overloaded. Don't do that. Don't let that start. Figure out a purpose and then go do it. If you want to start your own business, start your own business. If you want to go work part-time at Costco, go work part-time at Costco. Do something that gets you around people, that keeps your mind interested, and that will keep you active. The other thing I would suggest, and you got to talk to your medical doctor, I am not an MD, but you really might consider putting yourself on some kind of exercise routine. Because if you're a first responder in the military, you're used to being pretty physically active, a lot of you. So when you retire, and now there's not that push to keep yourself in good physical shape, there is a tendency in people to go, eh, I'll do it tomorrow. I'll do it tomorrow. And tomorrow becomes six months and now a year and now five years and now ten years. And your health starts really paying the price for that. So make a commitment. Every day you go walk your dog, every day. Or you take a walk with your significant other spouse, or you get a treadmill and hop on the treadmill and listen to podcasts. Or you join a gym and go to the gym and do some light lifting and jump on the treadmill. Whatever it is, keep your body active. I don't care if you do yoga or crossfit or whatever. Go do something with your body. Keep it active. Keep those muscles toned up. Okay. Make sure that you're doing some fun things. You know, one of my favorite people in the whole world told me a long time ago, he was my FTO, and I've mentioned him a number of times. He told me, Jana, I always have a vacation planned. Always. He said, I always, it could be a one-day, it could be a five-day, I always have a hike planned. He's an avid hiker. He says, I always have somewhere I'm gonna go. And so if I'm bored or today's a bad day, I go, yep, but at least in five days I'm gonna go do this. A lot of times it could be a day trip. Go to the mountains and have a picnic. You know, go to the park and have a picnic. It doesn't have to be a big event, but have some things planned so you're getting out of the house and doing some things so that you have something to look forward to. Maybe you take up a hobby that you've always wanted to do and never had time to do. Maybe you travel extensively. Maybe you take up hiking when you've never hiked. Maybe you take up playing the guitar. Whatever it is, start. Do not allow those whole habit patterns to start that now you have to shift. If you've been retired for a while and you're listening to this, then you might want to pick one habit you're doing that is not healthy. You know, maybe you're having, I don't know, two or three drinks a night and it's starting to impact your sleep and it's impacting your mood. Well, maybe you knock that down to one drink a night. Maybe you're not meal prepping anymore. Well, maybe you start looking online for some new recipes and start trying out some things that are healthy that you can start eating and you plan your menu for the week. Maybe you figure out a place where you can meet some other people with like interests. Classes are great. You know, adult education classes on a specific topic can be great for that. You know, take a cooking class, take a, I don't know, a class where you learn how, I don't know, build something, go to the local community college and take a class on carpentry. Something that will get you around some like-minded people that aren't necessarily first responders or military personnel. Get out of yourself a little bit. You know, maybe you join a writing group, maybe you want to write a book, maybe you want to learn to play the guitar, go take some guitar lessons. Do something that you've always wanted to do and enjoy it. Create the life that you always wanted to have the opportunity to create, but you were too busy working. But start. Don't sit on the couch and just sink into oblivion. You have too much knowledge and you've worked too hard for retirement to end there. Because you have the right to have a happy life. You have the right to enjoy your life. You have the right to set boundaries and tell people no, which is a hard one for some of you because first responders tend to be givers. You tend to give to people, take care of people, save people. But sometimes it's okay to say, you know what? That's not my path. I wish you luck. I hope things go well for you. But I need to take care of me right now. And that's okay. It's a hard shift though, if you've been a first responder in the military because your focus has always been outward focused. Bring it back inside and take care of you. You have the right to enjoy retirement. You have the right to tell people no. You have the right to be happy. I hope this was helpful. Please be very intentional how you set up your life. Whether you're retired and listening to this, you're thinking about retirement, you're listening to this, or retirement's a long way away. Whatever you start setting up today makes a huge difference in your future. So be intentional how you set it up and what you do. Because you have the right to be happy and you have the right to have a good life. Thank you for joining me. This is Dr. Janna Price Sharp from Mindpilot.
