Psychologists have a word for caring about what you leave to the people after you: generativity. They built a scale to measure it in 1992, and people who score higher on it also report doing more of it, like teaching someone a skill. Evidence: decent In a large US study of adults, people who put more into the next generation felt more connected and more worthwhile. Evidence: decent That's a correlation. Men who are doing well may simply have more to give.
Nobody has tested mentoring one person as a fix for a role that ended. It's the most direct way I know to act on the finding. Evidence: worth trying
The name matters. "Help young people" never gets a date in the diary. "Ask Nikolai how the new job is going" does.
What you knew didn't retire with you.
Same theme: When the role ends
When the role ends
Book a standing shift, not a favour
In the first month after a role ends, sign up for one weekly shift somewhere that will notice if you don't turn up. A rota, not a favour.
2 hours a weekEvidence: decent
When the role ends
Name what you're handing down
Write down three things you know how to do that nobody around you does. Next to each, a name. Teach one of them this month.
15 minEvidence: worth trying