What would happen if we stopped thinking of retirement as the finish line and started treating it as a promotion?
That’s the question at the heart of my conversation with Anne van Leynseele, creator of the Preferment framework and author of the book by the same name. Anne spent years working at the Social Security Administration, confronted daily by a simple but startling truth: retirement was designed in 1935 for a world of manual labour and shorter lives. We are no longer living in that world.
With 20 to 40 years of post-career life now common, Anne believes we owe ourselves something far more intentional than a blank calendar and a list of weekend hobbies. In this episode, she shares exactly how to design what comes next.
What We Cover
- Why the traditional retirement model is built for a world that no longer exists
- The “thin existence” problem: what happens when your hobbies aren’t enough to fill a full week
- How to identify your post-career theme and let it expand across every dimension of your life
- The Preferment framework: six on-demand modules for designing a purposeful next chapter
- Why high achievers need to unlearn the need to be the best and what becomes possible when they do
- Adaptability as the secret ingredient: how to flex your passions as life changes
- How couples can navigate this transition together (and why a second book comes free with every course purchase)
About the Guest
Anne van Leynseele is the creator of Preferment—a framework, book, and coaching program designed for curious overachievers navigating post-career life. A former policy advisor at the Social Security Administration and a first-year Gen Xer, Anne has spent years researching what happens when high-achieving people leave their careers without a plan for what comes next. Her answer is Preferment: a 15th-century word meaning to ascend or be promoted, and a philosophy that treats this era of life not as a retreat, but as the ultimate promotion.
Anne also runs a working farm, which she describes as the perfect post-career venture: physically demanding, intellectually stimulating, and community-driven. Her program includes on-demand video modules, twice-weekly live sessions, a physical welcome package, and a free one-on-one consultation when you feel stuck.
Links & Resources
- Anne’s website and program: rarifiedlife.com
- Preferment book: available at rarifiedlife.com
- Free consultation: book via rarifiedlife.com
