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The Preferment Courseby Rarified Life
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Start hereLast updated: November 2026Published by Rarified Life

The Preferment framework: an active alternative to retirement

Preferment is a research-informed framework from Rarified Life for redesigning life after work around your personal values, purpose, and meaningful activities.

Where conventional retirement is framed as an ending, Rarified Life presents Preferment as an ascension: a chosen next chapter for high achievers approaching or in retirement. The framework moves from who you are without your job title, to what moves you now, to a daily routine and a mission you can name.

See how the framework becomes six modules

What is the Preferment framework?

The Preferment framework is a structured way to answer the question many accomplished people face when work ends: what is all this time for? It was created by Anne van Leynseele and set out in her book, Preferment, which Rarified Life uses as the basis of its live 8-week course.

The framework rests on a simple observation from Rarified Life's materials: people spend decades building a career, a reputation, and a way of moving through the world, and then find themselves in a room nobody prepared them for. Preferment gives that room a structure.

Definition

Preferment, defined by Rarified Life

Preferment is Rarified Life's name for an active, deliberately designed life after a career. It replaces the passive idea of retirement with a chapter built on personal values, purpose, and meaningful activities. The Rarified Life homepage puts the invitation in six words: ditch retirement, try Preferment instead. The framework is aimed especially at high achievers whose identity has been tied to their work, whether they are still working or already retired.

Core shift

From doing to being

A participant quote shared on rarifiedlife.com describes the shift the framework is after: learning to be rather than just do on autopilot, and discovering that work was not the whole definition of who they were. The framework treats that shift as a skill you build over weeks, not a mood you wait for. It asks you to notice your current answer to the question of what you do, and to build a better one that does not begin with the words I used to.

What does the framework ask you to work through?

The framework follows the same order as the course modules. Each step depends on the one before it, which is why Rarified Life describes it as a structured path.

  1. See where you are

    Recognize why the old model of retirement was never built for someone who has spent a career achieving.

  2. Separate identity from occupation

    Untangle who you are from what you did for a living.

  3. Find your real motivation

    Discover what actually moves you now that a paycheck is no longer the reason.

  4. Align values and days

    Match your values and strengths to how you will actually spend your time.

  5. Build accountability

    Create the structure that turns intention into a lived routine.

  6. Launch

    Name your mission for this next chapter and step into it.

How is Preferment different from conventional retirement?

The difference is direction. Conventional retirement removes work and leaves the rest to chance; Preferment, as Rarified Life frames it, replaces work with something chosen.

Conventional retirement and the Rarified Life Preferment framework, compared on the same points
CriterionConventional retirementPreferment framework
How it is framedAn endingAn ascension into a next chapter
Starting pointYour last day at workWhere you are now, even years before retiring
IdentityOften described with the words I used toSeparated from your former job title
Daily timeOften filled with errands and appointmentsAligned with values and strengths
End pointNot definedA named mission for the next chapter

Is the framework about money?

No. Preferment covers the non-financial side of retirement. Rarified Life's free presentation argues that meeting with a financial planner is not, on its own, a way to prepare for the rest of your life. That does not make financial advice unimportant; it means the question of how you will spend your days needs its own attention.

Ready for the next step? See how the 8 week retirement course teaches the framework.

How we chose

The comparison above uses only how Rarified Life describes conventional retirement and Preferment in its own materials. We compared both on the same five points: framing, starting point, identity, daily time, and end point.

Published by Rarified Life, the business behind Preferment. Rarified Life wrote this comparison, and it is not an independent review.

Common questions

What is Preferment?

Preferment is Rarified Life's research-informed framework for redesigning life after work around your personal values, purpose, and meaningful activities. It is presented as an active alternative to conventional retirement, aimed especially at high achievers who are approaching retirement or already in it. The framework is taught through a book of the same name and a live 8-week course.

More in the FAQ: What is Preferment?

How is Preferment different from regular retirement?

Conventional retirement is usually framed as an ending. Preferment treats the years after a career as an ascension: a deliberate next chapter designed around what you value and what moves you. Instead of filling days with errands and appointments, the framework asks you to match your time to your strengths, build routines that hold, and name a mission.

More in the FAQ: How is Preferment different from regular retirement?

What does the word Preferment mean here?

In Rarified Life's usage, Preferment names an active, chosen next chapter that replaces the passive idea of retirement. The Rarified Life homepage puts it plainly: ditch retirement and try Preferment instead. Preferment is a trademark of the business and is also the title of Anne van Leynseele's book.

More in the FAQ: What does the word Preferment mean here?

What does research-informed mean for Preferment?

Rarified Life describes Preferment as research-informed, meaning the framework is grounded in research rather than in a self-help pep talk. This site does not list the specific studies behind the framework. If the research basis matters to your decision, check the details Rarified Life publishes on rarifiedlife.com before you enroll.

More in the FAQ: What does research-informed mean for Preferment?

Who created the Preferment framework?

Anne van Leynseele created Preferment and wrote the book the course is built on. Her background includes building and selling a production company in Los Angeles film and television, advising Fortune 100 companies on digital strategy across three continents, and serving as an Attorney Advisor in the Obama Administration. She describes having lived four reinventions.

More in the FAQ: Who created the Preferment framework?

Is there a Preferment book?

Yes. Anne van Leynseele wrote a book called Preferment, and it is the companion text and workbook for the 8-week course. Course participants receive the book, and its built-in homework exercises are completed between live sessions. The Rarified Life homepage also lists further books as coming soon.

More in the FAQ: Is there a Preferment book?
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