Send us Fan Mail Retirement should be the beginning of your next meaningful chapter—not the end of your purpose. What happens when your career ends and the title, routine, responsibilities, and identity that shaped your life suddenly change? In this powerful episode of the Remarkable People Podcast, David Pasqualone sits down with Chris Maduri, founder of Vibrant Retirement, to explore how to find purpose after retirement, rebuild your identity beyond work, deepen your faith, and create a meaningful second act. Chris shares much more than retirement advice. He opens up about his own remarkable journey through adoption, struggles with identity, the devastating loss of his best friend, alcohol, divorce, multiple DUIs, jail, and the spiritual transformation that followed. During one of the lowest seasons of his life, Chris began reading the Bible, slowing down, becoming still, and developing a deeper relationship with God. That process helped him begin seeing himself differently—not according to his failures, income, career, achievements, or the opinions of other people, but through a completely different understanding of identity, grace, responsibility, and purpose. In this conversation, you’ll discover: • Why financial preparation alone does not prepare you for retirement • How career and achievement can become dangerously connected to identity • Why you should begin designing your “second act” years before retirement • How to balance work, family, health, faith, and enjoying life now • Why stillness, prayer, listening, and self-awareness matter • How Chris rebuilt his life after addiction, DUIs, divorce, and jail • Why failure does not mean your life or purpose is over • How small acts of service can reveal a much larger purpose • Why purpose ultimately has to extend beyond yourself • How to stop endlessly preparing and begin taking meaningful action • Why you do not need to be perfect before you can add value to someone else’s life One of Chris’s most powerful insights from the episode: “If you’re looking for purpose, it has to be outside of you. No one’s purpose is to help themselves.” Whether you are 25, 45, 65, approaching retirement, already retired, experiencing a major life transition, or simply wondering, “What does God want me to do next?”—this conversation is for you. Your career may eventually end. Your job title may change. But if you are still here, your life still matters—and there is still good you can do. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🎙️ CONNECT WITH CHRIS MADURI Chris Maduri is the founder of Vibrant Retirement, where he helps people think beyond the financial side of retirement and ask better questions about identity, time, relationships, purpose, and their next chapter. ⏱️ EPISODE CHAPTERS 00:00 Retirement Doesn't Mean Retiring from God's Purpose 01:33 What You Can Expect to Gain from This Episode 02:08 Why Financial Retirement Planning Isn't Enough 03:27 Busyness, Midlife & “What Happened to My Life?” 05:56 Designing Your Second Act Before Retirement 07:30 Don't Wait Until Retirement to Start Living 08:52 Work-Life Balance & Escaping Hustle Culture 10:50 Chris Maduri's Story: Childhood, Adoption & Identity 14:02 Loss, Alcohol & the Beginning of a Downward Spiral 15:18 DUIs, Jail & the Turning Point 17:22 How Chris Found God While in Jail 18:15 The Bible, Identity & How God Uses Broken People 20:29 Redemption, Grace & Second Chances 22:39 Stop Living for Other People's Approval 24:55 Rebuilding Life, Marriage, Family & Faith 27:04 Leaving the Traditional Career Path 28:41 Feeling Lost? Start by Being Still 31:46 Prayer, Stillness & Meditation 33:17 Training Your Mind Like a Muscle 35:04 Physical Movement & Flexibility 36:20 Retirement Arrived—Now What? 36:46 Purpose Has to Be Outside of You 37:40 Finding Purpose Through Serving Others 38:20 Start Moving Before You Know the Destination 39:10 The Power of Saying Yes 39:30 The Men's Retreat That Changed Chris's Direction 41:00 Bible Study, Ministry & Service 41:52 Vibrant Retirement & Connecting with Chris 45:09 Final Lessons on Balance, Faith & Imperfection 45:52 Don't Apologize for Who You're Not 46:20 The Gifts Inside You Are Waiting to Come Out 46:48 Listen. Do. Repeat. For Life! ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If this conversation helped you, please LIKE the video, SUBSCRIBE to the channel, and SHARE this episode with one person who may be approaching retirement, questioning their purpose, rebuilding their life, or simply wondering what God has for them next. Your share may be exactly what that person needs today. #PurposeAfterRetirement #ChrisMaduri #RemarkablePeoplePodcast Support the show THE NOT-SO-FINE-PRINT DISCLAIMER: While we are very thankful for all of our guests, please understand that we do not necessarily share or endorse the same beliefs, worldviews, or positions that they may hold. We respectfully agree to disagree in some areas, and thank God for the blessing and privilege of free will. For more Remarkable Episodes, Inspiration, and Motivation, please visit https://davidpasqualone.com/remarkable-people-podcast/ now!
