Intentional Growth How to Live the 2nd Half of Life
We continue the theme of ‘halftime’ in people’s lives by speaking to Lloyd Reeb, an eminent author and speaker who coaches and mentors for the Halftime Institute.
Lloyd shared with us some great advice about how to use an existing business as a platform to do good for others and for yourself, and his own story will strike a chord with many people too. In his words: “I was pursuing the american dream without any sense as to where it was going to take me”
In today’s episode, you will learn:
- What the most important question you need to answer as an Entrepreneur
- What it’s like to use your company as a platform to live the life you want
- The Post-it note exercise to a great management team
- How to find the right people to go on the Entrepreneurship journey with you
- The 3 steps to find the best path to a great life and business
What was the moment when he realized his corporate life needed to change?
At the age of 30 he travelled across Asia and ended up in Manilla to visit a friend who was a missionary. He spent most of the week in Manilla playing basketball with kids and talking to them about faith. After that he went to a 5-star resort in Malaysia and realized he had more fun with the kids in Manilla than he did in the sanitized surroundings in Malaysia.
How did he start the process of change?
He looked at his life in the same way as he would look at his businesses. In his words: “you wouldn’t build a business without metrics, but how many of us use metrics for our own life?”
Then his mentor Bob Buford (author of Halftime: Moving From Success To Significance) empowered him further by saying: “You come into my office and give me these goals every year, but you’ve never told me where you want them to take you. Any time you’ve got free, work on the question
‘if your life was perfect; what would it look like?’”
Lloyd’s advice for what you can do today as a family:
Ask yourself three questions:
- Is there any limit of money you can spend on yourselves?
- If there is, what is it?
- What is in my kids’ best interest to inherit when I pass away?
How can you find your ‘mission’?
The first thing you should do is watch Lloyd’s TEDx Talk. It is amazing and summarized everything you need to know
Lloyd’s big point is for people to understand their mission in life before they make wholesale changes. It might be that their current company/workplace can help them do that or it may be that they have to move on. In his case he defined his mission as being a thought leader rather than an operator, so he relinquished his day-to-day management responsibilities and set about finding fields of work that had thought leadership at the forefront, hence how he became an author.
He has also seen many examples of people using their companies creatively to make the kind of impact they want as part of their mission, i.e. a man who had a company that sold jumpsuits for prisoners created a sub-organization dedicated to preventing convicts from re-offending.
What did Lloyd learn from the battle to change his identity?
- When you reinvent yourself, you’re going to go through a detox process. You’re addicted to the adrenaline of everyday business so it figures that it may take some time to adjust to a life without it.
- Understand there is a ‘head journey’ and a ‘heart journey’ in midlife renewal. The head journey is things like ‘what am I going to do with my time?’ The heart journey is the concept of allowing your heart to change, i.e what drives you, what makes you happy.
Wise words for the road:
“If life has two halves then the first half is about making a living and the second half is about making a life”
“If you don’t decide how much is enough, you will never have the freedom to help anybody else”
“[after retirement] You’re swimming up stream, not goofing around on the golf course. You want to be surrounding yourself with people who don’t think you’re crazy for doing that.”
Book recommendation:
Bio and Contact info for Lloyd:
Lloyd Reeb is a successful real estate developer and owner of retirement housing who made a mid-life transition, looking for greater meaning, joy and impact in his second half. To his surprise he discovered that he was not alone in this journey and that many talented leaders are longing for midlife renewal.
Lloyd’s had the privilege of investing more than 15 years now helping leaders plan their second half. He helped launch the Halftime Institute, a global team that teach, coach and connect successful men and women in pursuit of significance.
In Lloyd’s words, “When all you’ve done or own seems to matter less …and your heart craves more meaning, joy and balance…when something triggers in your mind that you’re entering your second half of life and you’re unsure what your calling is for the next season… you’re in Halftime.”
Lloyd has taken the Halftime message around the world: speaking, teaching and coaching individuals through the journey. As a result, Lloyd understands the issues that surround your Halftime in a deep and practical way.
Lloyd is the author of From Success to Significance: When the Pursuit of Success Isn’t Enough, which is a road map for this mid-life transition. His book The Second Half: Real stories, Real adventures, Real significance provides compelling evidence that your second half could be the most creative and productive season of your life.
Lloyd and his wife, Linda, have written the latest book in the Halftime series titled Halftime for Couples. They live in Charlotte, North Carolina. They have three adult children.
Lloyd.Reeb@halftime.org