CurriculumLast updated: November 2026Published by Rarified Life
The Preferment course has six modules: Introduction, Identity, Motivation, Alignment, Accountability, and Launch.
Rarified Life teaches the six modules across eight weekly live sessions, working through the Preferment book chapter by chapter. The order matters: you see where you are, separate identity from occupation, find what moves you, align values with your days, build structure, and then name a mission.
They are a sequence, not a menu. Each module uses the work of the one before it, which is why Rarified Life calls the course a structured path where each week builds on the last. Here is what each module covers, in order.
Module 1
Where you are right now, and why the old model of retirement was never built for someone like you.
The course begins with an honest look at your starting point. Rarified Life argues that conventional retirement was designed as an ending, which leaves people who spent decades building something with more time than ever and no idea what it is for. This module names that gap.
Module 2
Separating who you are from what you did for a living.
For many high achievers, the job title has quietly become the answer to who they are. This module works on untangling the two, so that your sense of self survives the end of a career. It is the module that speaks most directly to people who were pushed out sooner than planned.
Module 3
Finding what actually moves you, now that a paycheck is not the reason.
Without salary, promotion, or deadlines, a lot of familiar motivation disappears. This module looks for what is left and what is new: the interests and drives that move you when nobody is paying you to show up.
Module 4
Matching your values and strengths to how you will actually spend your days.
Here the work turns practical. Values and strengths are compared against a real calendar, so that the way you spend time reflects what matters to you rather than a list of errands and appointments.
Module 5
Building the structure that turns intention into a lived routine.
Good intentions fade without structure. This module builds the routines and checks that keep a new way of living going after the course ends, replacing the external structure that work used to provide.
Module 6
Naming your mission for this next chapter, and stepping into it.
The final module brings the earlier work together into a named mission. The goal Rarified Life describes is a life people ask you about, and an answer to the question of what you do that does not begin with the words I used to.
Definition
In the Rarified Life course, a module is a stage of the Preferment framework taught through the chapters of the book. Modules are worked through in live sessions with Anne van Leynseele and reinforced by homework exercises between sessions. The course has six modules spread across eight weekly sessions, so modules and weeks do not map one to one. Check the course listing for the current week-by-week schedule.
Why this order
Preferment starts with identity and motivation before it touches the calendar. Rarified Life's materials describe what often happens otherwise: days that fill up with errands and appointments. By working out who you are without your job title and what moves you first, the later modules on alignment and accountability have something real to align to.
If the sequence makes sense to you, the next step is the format and price. See how the 8 week retirement course runs and what the course costs. To go back to the bigger picture, return to the retirement coaching course overview.
The six modules are Introduction, Identity, Motivation, Alignment, Accountability, and Launch. They move from understanding where you are now, through separating who you are from what you did for a living and finding what moves you, to matching values with daily life, building structure, and naming your mission for the next chapter.
More in the FAQ: What are the six modules of the Preferment course?The course pairs eight weekly live sessions with six modules of content, so sessions and modules are not a one-to-one match. Rarified Life describes the course as a structured path in which each week builds on the last. For the exact week-by-week schedule, check the current course listing on rarifiedlife.com.
More in the FAQ: Why are there six modules in an eight-week course?Yes. Homework is built into the Preferment book and done between sessions, and Rarified Life describes it as real exercises rather than busywork. The homework is what turns reading into a plan: each exercise asks you to apply the idea of the week to your own identity, motivation, values, or daily routine.
More in the FAQ: Is there homework in the Preferment course?The final module, Launch, focuses on naming your mission for the next chapter and stepping into it. By then you will have worked through identity, motivation, alignment, and accountability, so the end of the course is meant to be a starting point for a lived routine. The course is not described as awarding a certificate.
More in the FAQ: What happens at the end of the 8 week course?It can be. A page from retirementlifeplan.com reports that as many as 50% of people are pushed to retire sooner than planned. The early Preferment modules, Introduction and Identity, address where you are right now and how to separate who you are from what you did, which matters most when the exit was not your choice.
More in the FAQ: Is Preferment a good fit if I was pushed into retirement early?Start by reading about the Preferment framework so the course vocabulary feels familiar. Then think about the question the course opens with: where you are right now. Rarified Life's materials suggest noticing how often your answer to the question of what you do starts with the words I used to. That noticing is useful preparation.
More in the FAQ: What should I do before the first Preferment session?