Recently, I listened to a friend of mine talk about his current life situation.
His work pace is killing him. While he is passionate about it, he is being “forced” by circumstances (an impossible labor market) to do things he shouldn’t have to at this stage. When I asked whether he saw any change on the horizon, his response was a woeful silence.
His work life has always been central, but the pace has only gotten worse and more demanding. I asked him whether this was the life he envisions. His answer was a tossed salad of a lifetime of beliefs. He wants to:
- Spend more time with his grandchildren
- Spend more time traveling
- Play more golf that isn’t attached to being with clients
- Develop and nurture client relationships
I asked him about his legacy and what he wishes to leave behind to which he emphatically stated that is want NOT to be remembered by his profession.
So there it is. The lifetime of training and beliefs that bump up against reality. As a friend, I want to hit him on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper to jolt him into the reality of his age, health, family situation.
Instead, I gave him a big hug. I know the inner battles and the lifetime of training and beliefs that set us on our paths. It’s a battle we need to fight, but only when we recognize the forces that keep us in place or launch us into our new chapter.
