Did I Really Want to Retire… Or Did I Just Need a Reset?

Retirement isn’t always the ending we imagine. Sometimes it’s just the pause we desperately needed.

This weekend I had one of those conversations that stayed with me long after the conversation ended.

I was talking with my brother.

He just retired after 40 years as a long-haul truck driver.

If you’ve ever driven across this country, chances are you’ve passed someone like him—someone who spent decades watching sunrises through a windshield, working long hours, missing holidays, and doing whatever it took to provide for his family.

As we talked, I realized something.

He was done.

Not tired.

Not burned out.

Done.

And it made me ask myself a question I hadn’t fully answered yet.

Was I really ready to retire… or did I simply need a reset?

In this week’s video, I’m sharing the conversation that changed the way I look at retirement—and why I believe our next chapter doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s.

Two People. Two Different Retirements.

My brother and I have always been a little alike.

We both started working young.

I had my first real job packing chicharrones and pig’s feet in La Puente, California when I was barely a teenager.

He walked neighborhoods mowing lawns before most kids were thinking about earning money.

We’ve always been hustlers.

So when I heard the peace in his voice after retiring, I knew he meant it.

He had reached the finish line.

But when I looked at my own retirement, I realized my story felt different.

Looking Back at 2022

When I left the funeral home in 2022, everyone called it retirement.

Including me.

It sounded right.

I was over sixty.

Big Dog was ready for us to enjoy life together.

After COVID, the funeral industry had been emotionally exhausting. Cases never seemed to slow down, and every day carried a weight most people never see.

I loved my job.

I loved helping families.

But I was exhausted.

Looking back now, I don’t think I wanted retirement.

I think I wanted to breathe.

Burnout Can Look Like Retirement

Sometimes burnout disguises itself as retirement.

You convince yourself you’re finished because you’re simply too tired to imagine doing anything else.

That was me.

After leaving work, Big Dog and I traveled across the country with our sweet Jet.

Those were beautiful memories I’ll always treasure.

Then life happened.

My dad’s dementia progressed.

My best friend Tiffany passed away unexpectedly.

We lost our beloved Jet.

There wasn’t much time to stop and really ask myself what I wanted next.

I was simply living through whatever came next.

Then Something Changed

About a year ago I started telling Big Dog something that surprised even me.

“I think I want to go back to work.”

His response?

“You just don’t know how to retire.”

Maybe he was partly right.

But deep down I knew something else.

I still had energy.

I still wanted to build.

I still wanted to learn.

I still felt like I had something to contribute.

So I started sending out resumes.

More than one hundred of them.

If you’ve looked for work recently, you already know.

Finding a job today isn’t the same as it was twenty years ago.

Gone are the days when you walked in with a resume, shook someone’s hand, and maybe walked out with a job.

Everything happens behind a keyboard now.

It feels different.

My Brother Asked One Simple Question

As we talked, he could hear the frustration in my voice.

Then he asked me something simple.

“Why don’t you build something of your own?”

I smiled.

“I am.”

That one sentence pretty much explains where Gigi’s Unfiltered came from.

Instead of Waiting… I Started Building

I could have spent months feeling sorry for myself because nobody was calling.

Instead, I decided to learn.

I built a website.

I started blogging consistently.

I learned Pinterest.

I became an Amazon Associate.

Then an Amazon Influencer.

I launched another YouTube channel.

I wrote my first ebook.

I kept showing up.

Not because someone hired me.

Because I hired myself.

AI Changed Everything

One of the biggest surprises has been artificial intelligence.

I know many people in our generation hear “AI” and immediately feel intimidated.

I understand that.

I did too.

But I don’t see AI as something to fear.

I see it as a productivity tool.

It hasn’t replaced my voice.

It has helped me organize my ideas, learn faster, create more efficiently, and build a business I never imagined starting at this stage of my life.

Learning something new reminds me that my brain still loves a challenge.

That excitement tells me I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.

Retirement Doesn’t Have One Definition

Watching my brother retire reminded me of something important.

His retirement doesn’t have to look like mine.

Mine doesn’t have to look like yours.

Some people are completely finished with working.

Others discover they’re just getting started.

Neither is wrong.

The important part is giving yourself permission to discover which one you are.

Don’t Let Waiting Become Your Plan

If you’re six months into retirement…

Or a year…

Or maybe you’re still deciding…

Here’s what I want to tell you.

Don’t let waiting become your plan.

Keep learning.

Keep exploring.

Keep saying yes to the things that make you curious.

Your next chapter may not have opened yet simply because you haven’t opened the door.

One Final Thought

My mama always used to say,

“Time doesn’t wait for nobody.”

The older I get, the more I understand what she meant.

Don’t let your age determine the size of your dreams.

Don’t wait for someone else to decide what your future looks like.

You still get to choose.

Maybe retirement isn’t the end of your story.

Maybe it’s finally the beginning of the one you were always meant to write.