Halftime Summit

Yesterday Don Wilcox and I drove up to Vail to join Lloyd Reeb and Greg Murtha of Leadership Network for a Halftime Summit, hosted by Vail Bible Church and sponsored by Leadership Network. The concept of "halftime" is that many successful people build their lives around success, then after they achieve that success, long to do something meaningful with their lives. Based on Bob Buford's best selling book(500,000 copies in print), Half Time Summits are half-day workshops for people with margins of time, talent and resources who are in the process of discovering what they will give themselves to in the second half of their lives. Bob Buford uses the phrase "from success to significance," describing the first and second half of a person's life. The questions that identify a person's halftime quest might be:

• Is there more to life than my current situation?
• What do I consider eternally significant?
• What on earth would give my life meaning?
• Am I alone in feeling this way?
• How much (stuff, money, advancement) is enough?
• Was my first half experience a foundation for something more significant in my second half?

Management guru (and long-time mentor of Bob Buford), Peter Drucker says, "In a few hundred years, when the history of our time will be written from a long term perspective, I think it is very probable that the most important event these historians will see is not technology, it is not the internet, it is not e-commerce. It is an unprecedented change in the human condition. For the first time--and I mean that literally--for the first time, substantial and rapidly growing numbers of people have choices. For the first time, they will have to manage themselves. And let me say, we are totally unprepared for it." Well said.

To create "margin" in our lives we must "cut low value stuff from our lives to make space for high value stuff."

High capacity people need high capacity challenges. Lloyd Reeb (himself a former successful real estate developer) told of one successful chinese business man, whose business was tea, but his passion was photography and helping disabled Chinese orphans. This man did not leave his business to experience significance. He didn't change his job but he did change his heart! He is now in the process of traveling through China taking photos of Chinese orphans, placing these pictures on tea packages along with a link to a website that allows customers to support and sponsor Chinese orphanages. His dream is to see homes for every orphan in China. The last time Lloyd saw this man, he was grinning ear to ear because he had just paid for a heart transplant of one of these precious children.

God's blessing is not the end but the foundation to do something significant.

The five hour session also included opportunities to discover and define one's groundings, roles, abilities, gifts and passions that serve as guiding stars in discovering one's calling.

This morning I opened my Outlook to discover Bob Buford's Active Energy in my mail box. I include Bob's Active Energy in my blog links since I find his thinking progressive and he is incredibly connected with people of passion and skill. He attached a letter from his good friend John Snyder's credentials are found at the end of this blog entry but this is what he recently wrote to describe his second half aspirations. I think it is worth the read. I'd also encourage you to link to and begin subscribing to Buford's Active Energy.

What is Life II?
For thousands of years before 1900, men followed in their fathers’ vocations for their entire lives. Around 1900, it became practical for many to choose what they wanted to do. They had a period of productivity, up to around age 60, followed by a brief retirement, and then they died.
With today’s vastly extended lifespan and improved health over 60, many reach the traditional retirement age still having the potential for another 20-25 years of productivity — a second adulthood, also referred to as “Life II” or the “Second Half.”

Many in our culture still view the traditional retirement age as the end of their productive years and a time to sail away to leisure land, leading an aimless, reactive life. Increasing numbers, however, see this as the opportunity — having completed their traditional careers — to pursue their calling, spending Life II seeking meaning rather than money, significance rather than success. This is generating a wave of productive and enterprising people, male and female, and is potentially the next big demographic story of our time.”

What is Life II?
For thousands of years before 1900, men followed in their fathers’ vocations for their entire lives.
Around 1900, it became practical for many to choose what they wanted to do. They had a period of productivity, up to around age 60, followed by a brief retirement, and then they died.
With today’s vastly extended lifespan and improved health over 60, many reach the traditional retirement age still having the potential for another 20-25 years of productivity — a second adulthood, also referred to as “Life II” or the “Second Half.”
Many in our culture still view the traditional retirement age as the end of their productive years and a time to sail away to leisure land, leading an aimless, reactive life. Increasing numbers, however, see this as the opportunity — having completed their traditional careers — to pursue their calling, spending Life II seeking meaning rather than money, significance rather than success. This is generating a wave of productive and enterprising people, male and female, and is potentially the next big demographic story of our time.”

Conceptual Contrasts
Traditional Model
Forty years of hard work followed by a generally aimless retirement, and death soon after.

Life II Model
After the traditional retirement age, start a new 20-25 year initiative focused on making the world a better place. Work more for meaning than for fortune and fame, serving a higher purpose than one’s own wants and needs.

Retiring (Traditional)
Checking out and coasting.
Going to leisure land.
Leading life selfishly, self-indulgent, aimless, reactive.
In a holding pattern, on auto-pilot.
Taken out of use.
The end of productivity.
Not doing anything purposeful or beneficial.

Redeploying (Life II)
Life is too valuable to waste.
Refocusing.
Don’t have to work, but still have work to do.
Pursuing meaning.
Building lasting significance.
Living purposefully, intentionally.
Making the world a better place.

Success (Traditional)
It is about getting.
Using your knowledge and experience to gain fortune and fame.

Significance (Life II)
It is about giving back.
Using your knowledge and experience to add value to lives of others.
Giving up money and status for the opportunity to change people’s lives forever.
Helping others realize their ideals.
The fruit of your work grows on others’ trees.

Career
What you are paid to do.

Calling
What you are made to do. (This concept will preach!)

Life I (Traditional)
Self actualization.
Developing one’s knowledge, experience and resources.

Life II
Self transcendence.
Developing lasting significance that can continue past one’s lifetime.
Tough Times
No one has clear sailing through life. The luckiest of lives has its full share of difficulties and private despair. Soundness is a way of reacting to problems, not the absence of them.
“The way out is always through” (Robert Frost). Just as resistance generates muscle, working through the worst experience generates joy.
If the thing before you is what God wants you to do, He will provide the strength. If not, He’ll show you another way.

Some Tips
1. For life:
Do good work.
Be with good people.
Learn to give and receive love.

2. For Life II:
Be free of the stress experienced in Life I.
Focus on meaningful work that benefits others.
Have fun.

Some Questions
1. Would you like the world to be a better place for your having been there? So, what’s your plan?
2. From God, at the end of your life:
What did you do about Jesus?
What did you do with what I gave you to work with?
3. What do you want to be remembered for?

Some Answers
For question #3:
Being a man of faith.
Loving my wife and providing for her.
My kids’ lives working out well.
Successfully building a company.
Leaving the world a better place.

John Snyder founded Snyder Oil Corp. in 1977 and served as chairman and CEO until its merger in 1999 to form Santa Fe Snyder Corp. He served as chairman of Santa Fe Snyder until its merger in 2000 with Devon Energy Corp. John received his B.S. in petroleum engineering from the University of Oklahoma and his M.B.A from Harvard.

If you would be interested in learning more about these concepts, I'd encourage you to order Bob's books, Halftime and Finishing Well, visit www.halftime.org or contacting Lloyd Reeb (lloyd.reeb@leadnet.org) or Greg Murtha (greg.murtha@leadnet.org) for more information.