Never Stop Dreaming

The Dr Schuster Column

I recently returned from a long weekend in Ibiza, where we celebrated D’s birthday with a group of 18 people. It wasn’t just a party—it was a kind of living salon. The guests ranged in age from early 5 to mid-80s, and hailed from all corners of the world. We came together to eat, drink, and dance, yes—but more than anything, we talked.

What struck me most was the richness of those conversations. They kept circling back to the big questions: careers, purpose, relationships, transitions. And perhaps the most surprising thing, considering the wide age range, was this—no one considered themselves retired. Not one.

There was the model who now curates art. The full-time mother who now sits on multiple boards. The former executive who now devotes his energy to healing and therapy. Everyone had moved on from one life chapter to the next—often radically different ones—but no one had stopped moving. Reinvention wasn’t the exception. It was the norm.

It made me think: why do we still talk about “retirement” like it’s a goal or a destination? The word itself feels dated—almost obsolete. We should ban it. It belongs to a different era. A life of purpose doesn’t suddenly end at sixty, seventy, or eighty. Life and work are not two separate lanes—they’re entwined. The idea of a clean break between them doesn’t match the reality of how most of us want to live.

Work, when it’s meaningful, fuels us. It gives us structure. As Einstein said, “Work is the only thing that gives meaning to life.” He wasn’t talking about jobs or careers, but the broader idea of effort, growth, and contribution. Work isn’t about how many hours you log in a day—it’s about having something to strive for, something that pulls you forward.

And that’s the common thread I saw among our Ibiza crew: a refusal to settle. Everyone was still curious, still searching, still daring to be better—regardless of age or background. That energy is contagious. And it’s also necessary, because the world we live in today is in constant flux. Reinvention isn’t just a luxury. It’s a survival skill.

I’ve always believed that we should treat life as a series of evolving chapters, not a straight-line trajectory. That philosophy runs deep in the Shey Sinope books David Oxley and I co-created. We’ve followed Shey from graduation to the first job, from career growth to unexpected detours. And in a few years, in our sixth and final volume, we will explore something we are deeply passionate about: reinvention in your sixties and beyond.

That’s the legacy I want to celebrate: not just Shey’s, but everyone’s who dares to evolve. Reinvention is ageless.

So here’s to never stopping. To asking what’s next. To dreaming bigger at 80 than you did at 30.

To surrounding yourself with people who are still in motion.

Let’s dream and reinvent - not retire!