I share a message that my kids have heard over and over again, “Be safe, be smart.” I say this to them almost every time they leave the house. I don’t care that they are 24 & 26 years old, I deliver this like a mantra. A good friend of mine has a different kind of mantra told at a different times to his kid, and that’s, “Finish strong.”

I’m in need of this mantra right now. The coming weeks are so busy, I’m tired, and yet I’m so close to the end… I’ve got just over 20 work days left until I retire, and I keep telling myself, ‘Finish strong!’

There are other things I’m saying to myself. I’m trying to remember to pause, and to enjoy the celebrations that come with retirement… but the main mantra, the thing that I keep coming back to, is to ‘Finish strong!’