I know it sounds like such an easy thing, retirement, but moving toward retirement means stepping into a new phase of life. And quite frankly, many don't find it that easy.

Finally, the chance to do all the things you ever wanted to do€¦travel, visit family, volunteer, remodel your home, move to the country, or write that book you've always dreamed of! But as retirement nears, there's underlying doubt. Can I afford to do these things? Can I afford to retire? Will I run out of money? Will I physically be able to do this?

One of the biggest concerns behind all retirement dreams is€¦€Am I brave enough?€ To live an amazing life, it takes courage. When lying on your death bed, do you want to have the final regret that you weren't brave enough?

The other biggest concern is€¦€Do I have enough?€

Before I share with you the 4 most important steps you'll ever hear about creating a great retirement, let me address this issue of €enough€. First of all, when approaching retirement, simultaneously you are facing two very new paradigms. One of having to shift your mindset from being an €earner' to being a €spender', and the other shift from having €no time€, to having complete freedom of your time. These two perspectives can be very jarring during the retirement transition.

Imagine what these new mindsets can do to your finances. You finally have the time to live your dreams, yet you know that every dollar you spend could have an impact on your future financial security.

€Do I have enough?€ That may be the wrong question. Two better questions to ask are, €What is the impact if I choose this now?€ and €What am I willing to give up in order to have this now?€

All of these questions can be answered in the 4 Steps to a GREAT retirement.

Step One: Design It

Less than 1% have a plan for living a life that brings true happiness, whether for retirement or not. If you don't take the time to really understand what brings you the most joy, how will you really know if you lived life to its fullest? It's up to YOU to determine what will create a life with no regrets.

Sure it's easy to say you want to travel, visit family, give back to the community, or write that book. But WHY? Why are these important to you? And by the way, as important to you as you say they are, why aren't you already living this way (and don't say your job, because that is your choice too)? Answering this question will uncover the mindset that's been holding you back.

But now that you're nearing retirement, you can see how precious each year is. Every year, every month, every day wizzes by, and if you'd don't get the clarity (and courage) now to start living this way, another decade will pass by, just like the last decade did.

So, take time now to DESIGN your retirement. Design the way you want your life to look. Think about where you want to live, who you want to be around, what activities you want to do, what service you want to give, what health you want to have. You have many years ahead to design and live something amazing€¦if you know what that is.

Step Two: Fund It

Now that you have the Design in place, how are you going to fund it? This is the opportunity to empower yourself with your finances. There are two critical components to your finances that you must understand, your cash flow and your net worth.

Your cash flow is key to wealth building and preserving. Cash flow is the flow of money that comes in and out on a monthly basis. It's how much comes in, less what goes out. Simple enough, right? Most people call it budgeting, but it's much more. Budgeting is watching what you spend, managing your cash flow is mastering your income as well as your spending, and preparing for the timing of your needs.

Financial planning is simply mapping out your cash flow now and well into the future.

The other component is your net worth. Your net worth is the difference between your total assets and all of your debt. What is left is your worth. Your personal level of net worth is critical only to the degree of your cash flow. What does that mean? Remember, I said that cash flow is key to wealth building and preservation? So, depending on whether your cash flow is positive or negative, will depend on how much net worth you need for financial freedom.

In this step, FUND IT, you create a funding map that shows how you can you confidently live your retirement DESIGN. By gaining control of your finances and understanding what you need (now and the future) to live a great life, you will gain a stronger sense of financial freedom.

Step Three: Protect It

Now that you have the DESIGN and the plan to FUND it, you must keep it safe. Protecting your plan means making sure your assets are safe, your income is safe, your legacy is safe, and most importantly your dreams are safe. Safety comes from reducing and protecting the potential risks to your DESIGN.

What are some of the risks that need to be protected? The risk of the market crashing, the risk of your income decreasing, the risk of health issues, the risk of death, and the risk of taxation.

In this step, you create a plan to reduce risks and PROTECT your dreams, family and finances. All of these risks can be covered with plans that diversify and protect your assets, secure your income, reduce your taxes and cover unexpected costs.

Step Four: Live It

This is the most difficult step of them all. Go out and LIVE IT! This is where your courage is crucial. It will require changes in your mindset as well as your routines to start living that amazing life you desire. You will have to do new things, learn new things, look at things you have been avoiding, and do things you don't like. But, it's YOUR life.

The good news is this. You don't have to do it all at once, and you don't have to do it alone. When you start to make these changes, we look only at the next 3 action steps. You don't have to change everything at once. You don't have to solve all your concerns at once. All you have to do is take the next three action steps.

That's it.

Just three small steps and you'll make huge progress. Once you take three steps, you can define the next three steps. Easy enough, right?

When it's time for you to go LIVE IT, just ask yourself this question: €Am I brave enough to create an amazing life?€