The following is adapted from Men@Pause by Matthew Ray Scott, Christopher J. Lisle, and G. Bryan Cornwall.
The retirement brochure looks perfect, doesn’t it? Golf courses, beach walks, endless leisure. But here’s what they don’t show you: Monday morning, 7:00 a.m. No meetings. No purpose. Just time.
We’ve been sold a story about retirement—that it’s a finish line, a stop, a reward for decades of work. A day when we finally “have time.” But time for what?
Here’s the trap: we spend decades racing toward a day when we can finally do what matters, while putting off what matters today. The math is broken. Not the financial math—the life math.
Retirement isn’t a number in your 401(k). It’s not a date on the calendar. It’s not a gold watch ceremony. Real retirement is a transition: from what you have to do to what you choose to do.
So the question isn’t “When can I stop working?” It’s “What work matters to me?” The question isn’t “How much do I need?” It’s “What do I want to create?” The question isn’t “When can I retire?” It’s “Why am I waiting to live?”
What nobody tells you about retirement is that the best ones start decades before the party—with small steps, tiny experiments, little shifts. That side project? Retirement practice. That volunteer work? Retirement training. That hobby business? Retirement reconnaissance.
Because here’s the truth: real retirement isn’t about stopping. It’s about starting. Not later—now.
Ironically, the people who build amazing retirements often never retire at all. They just build amazing lives. They wake up with purpose, not obligation. They spend their days creating, experimenting, and living in alignment with what matters most.
What if retirement isn’t a destination at all? What if it’s a daily practice of choosing, creating, and living? Starting today, not in some distant future.
The lesson is simple: don’t wait for the perfect day to start living. Don’t chase a retirement that only exists on a brochure or a calendar. Instead, use the years you have to practice freedom, purpose, and curiosity. Start small. Start now.
Retirement, in its truest form, isn’t a moment at the end—it’s the life you build along the way.
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For more insights on building a meaningful retirement, you can find Men@Pause on Amazon.
Matthew Ray Scott once leapt from airplanes as a captain in the 82nd Airborne Division. Today, he’s the Jerry Maguire of physician branding. Matthew lives, works, and plays in the Ozarks of Arkansas (a.k.a. the Ozark Mafia Poet).
Chris Lisle was raised by a paratrooper attorney akin to Atticus Finch. A former Airborne Ranger, trial attorney, and adventurer, Chris has survived alligator-infested swamps in Florida, defended a man who killed his own brother, and hunted for bears in the Alaskan mountains.
Bryan Cornwall, PhD has been a professor, engineer, inventor, scientist, parent, and global citizen. He has designed medical devices that have benefited patients throughout the world and has also received medical care for the body, brain, and heart. Bryan has traveled extensively, searching for wisdom, and has completed marathons on all seven continents.