‘Help me hold on until retirement.’ Here’s why I said no.

“I want you to help me hold on in my role until retirement. I’m afraid of being let go, of falling behind, of being overtaken on the technology side.”

That was the request from a senior executive client.

At first, I nearly said yes. A meaningful sparring partner mission, on the surface.

Then I reconsidered. And I said no.

Holding on until retirement. Drifting until death.

Waiting for Friday evening to feel better. The next holiday. Next year. Always hoping something better will arrive, while staying still.

You’ve often been told to live in the present. I remind myself of the same thing : the past is gone, and the future, everyone knows where it leads.

But living with the feeling of being stuck in a loop, the same day repeating endlessly, for me, that’s already a kind of death.

Ambition changes shape ; it doesn’t disappear

At a certain point in a career and in life, ambition transforms. It no longer looks the way it did at 30. And that’s normal.

But for me, the central question becomes legacy: what do I leave behind if I disappear tomorrow? Where have I actually had an impact, through what I’ve lived and passed on?

Some people want to build wealth. Some want to plan a comfortable retirement. These are legitimate choices.

For me, the question every day is: what do I want to live, transmit, give?

Why I said no

Helping someone stay in the status quo, hold on without asking why, survive rather than choose , that’s not what I do.

I’d rather help someone learn to live new experiences, find meaning in what they’re living, and share it, than help them stay in place out of fear.

That executive may have needed to hear the no. Because behind the request to hold on, there was a much larger question: what do I still want to build?