The good news is we have more options for spending our retirement years than any generation in the history of the planet. The even better news is that it’s likely we’ll have more retirement years with better health than any generation preceding ours.

A couple of years ago, as I was about to enter my 60’s, I felt I’d done a decent job of preparing for retirement financially but not for how I’d actually spend my time. My own dad lived to 100 and frankly, I couldn’t think of anything I wanted to do that long.

After some serious introspection, I decided I’m a “project guy” at heart. I like to take on substantive challenges, throw myself into them, learn a ton of stuff, and a few months later, finish it up and move on to another. “Project guy” describes most of my working life and I want to be a project guy in retirement — except this time I get to choose the projects.

So, I’ve concluded my ideal retirement will be filled with projects of about three months’ duration with a goal at the end. Since “project” is such a generic word, I’m calling them HarvilleQuarters, or HQs — three-month (more or less) projects during retirement that have all or most of these seven characteristics:

1. New knowledge and skills
I don’t want to stop learning just because I’m retired, so I’ll be looking for HarvilleQuarters that bring me opportunities – in fact, require me – to learn new skills.

2. Creativity
The best projects require us to go beyond the knowledge we’ve already mastered and figure out something we haven’t. We’ll take advantage of this opportunity to think outside the proverbial box, be creative and do it our way. HarvilleQuarters have no rules, other than being considerate of others and doing one’s best not to injure oneself.

3. Risk
I believe it was Oscar Wilde who said, “An idea that’s not risky is not much of an idea.” For HarvilleQuarters, risks can come in many forms — trying something you’ve never done, looking foolish or less than fully competent to others, or not having the physical stamina to complete the HQ in the manner you’d envisioned. Not every HarvilleQuarter will be a resounding success, but many will. Embrace the risk.

4. Engaging with new people
We never lose our capacity to make new friends. We’ve all known older folks who have become increasingly intolerant in their judgments and even suspicious of people they haven’t known most of their lives. In retirement, let’s do just the opposite – open ourselves to new ideas and seek friendships with people we would not otherwise meet. We may find our new best friend or even a lifetime partner.

5. Playfulness
As I was compiling my list of 100 HarvilleQuarters, I was struck by the number that could be considered activities for children. Creating a great model railroad, doing jigsaw puzzles, telling stories, taking music lessons, riding a bike, making kites, building a tree house, learning to juggle – all activities we did as children, or wished we could. This is a time to recapture our playful natures, forget about what anyone else might say, and just have fun. And as a side benefit, they will help us connect with the small children in our lives.

6. Personal growth
Personal growth is different from picking up a new skill or additional knowledge. It is the sense that you are a different person, that you have been enhanced in a way that transcends the HQ’s deliverables. Your children may be surprised at what they learn about you and the facets of your personality they are noticing for the first time. You will be come a larger person, more rounded and, dare I say, wiser.

7. Experiencing the satisfaction of job well done
We never outlive the capacity to enjoy the satisfaction of seeing something through to completion and doing it well.