The Retirement Lie We’ve Been Fed
The myth of retirement is a lie that many of us buy into, a dream sold to us by society to keep us on the treadmill of monotonous work. We’re conditioned to believe that if we just work hard enough, endure the grind for 65 years, we’ll finally earn our reward: freedom. This is what we’ve been promised — a “golden ticket” to relaxation and fulfillment once we hit a certain age. Except, when we reach that moment, the truth is often far more disappointing than what we were led to expect.
The narrative is this: work tirelessly for decades, sacrifice your health, your relationships, your passions, and one day, when you’re older, your body’s starting to break down and your mind is less sharp, you’ll be free to do whatever you want. The reality? By the time you’re eligible for that so-called freedom, you may not even have the health, energy, or drive to enjoy it. It’s a trap, a clever manipulation that keeps us slaving away for something that will likely never deliver.
We’ve been duped into thinking that the pinnacle of life is this distant, elusive concept of “retirement” — a time when we can finally live life on our terms. But why are we waiting for permission to live fully? Why are we putting off our true desires, our health, our happiness, for some distant future? This is where the lie comes in. Retirement, as society has sold it, doesn’t guarantee joy or freedom; it often means a slow and disappointing decline.
The truth is, we’ve been sold a mirage. Retirement isn't the oasis we’ve been promised. It’s a destination that too many of us will never reach, either because we didn’t make it or because when we do, we’re too tired, too sick, too worn out to appreciate it. And let’s not even talk about the financial insecurity that leaves many of us scrambling until the very end.
The real question we should ask ourselves is: why do we continue to accept this lie? Why do we dedicate our best years to a system that doesn’t actually serve us? We’ve been trained to think that if we just sacrifice enough now, we’ll get the freedom we crave later. But there’s another way, a better way, and it starts with being intentional with how we live now.
Imagine if we didn’t spend all those years in a dead-end job, just waiting for the day we could finally “relax.” What if we could inject purpose, passion, and fulfillment into our work now, instead of waiting for an elusive future that may never come? The truth is, humans are designed to work, but we were never meant to grind away endlessly without meaning. Work should feel fulfilling, exciting, and even fun, not a drag that leaves us waiting for a future we can barely taste.
We need to stop buying into the retirement myth and start redefining what work and life can look like for us — not in the distant future, but now. Because when we’re constantly living for a future moment, we miss out on the joy, purpose, and satisfaction that can come from living fully today. We don’t have to wait for some magical day in the future to start living intentionally. The time to make a change is now.
In my new book Wake Up and Smell the Coffee, I dive into the powerful truth that you have the ability to start creating the life of your dreams today. You're as young as you'll ever be right now — there’s no need to wait for the perfect moment or for the future to unfold. This is your time to take bold steps, embrace your authenticity, and begin building the life you've always envisioned. Don't put off living your fullest potential — the journey to fulfillment starts in this very moment.
