Halftime. It’s the book – written by my now-in-Heaven friend Bob Buford – that launched The Master’s Program.
Published in 1994, Bob argues that early career success is not life’s main event; rather – for Christians – it is merely the opening act for a later reinvention that will qualify as eternally significant.
Bob’s challenge – to move from success to significance – was a clarion call, but the book lacked a process to enable that very individualized transition. In 1995, Bob challenged me to create that framework and partnered with me to underwrite the creation and launch of The Master’s Program.
Last month, Arthur Brooks – former president of the American Enterprise Institute, now professor at Harvard Business School – released an insightful perspective within the same category: From Strength to Strength: Finding success, happiness and deep purpose in the second half of life.
Converted as a teen from agnostic to Catholic, he incorporates biblical faith into the book without losing a secular reader. He does cite Moses’ counsel from Psalm 90: “The length of our days is seventy years – or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away… Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (vs 10-12).
He avoids the tedium of an academic researcher in painting a picture of life illustrated by players – some treated with anonymity, some named – who demonstrate the validity of his view of life. He uses the first half and second half language that Bob did in Halftime.
In early adulthood, he says that we use Fluid Intelligence – “the ability to reason, think flexibly and solve novel problems” – to achieve our greatest successes. Athletes – with rare exception – “peak” before 40. Venture capitalists put billions in the hands of innovators in their 20s to create new companies. Examples abound to confirm the argument: achievement among the young is the norm.
For too many, these early successes become the curse of later life. Lock in your status before your 40th birthday and spend the rest of life pointing at the trophies accumulated from youth. Unless…
Brooks introduces the successor opportunity: shift from reliance on Fluid Intelligence and graduate into Crystallized Intelligence – “the opportunity to use a stock of knowledge learned in the past to enable contributions in the future” – and this increases with age: through the 40s, 50s and 60s and does not diminish until quite late in life. Wisdom is lost on the young, but the crown for the mature.
After some great counsel about how to make that shift-in-seasons possible, he concludes with the seven-word mantra for those who graduate from Fluid to Crystallized: Use Things, Love People and Worship the Divine.
Will Brooks’ book have the million-plus distribution that Halftime achieved? Doubtful. Is his insight important? Immensely. Every generation needs to relearn the lessons missed by most but embraced by the best, couched in terms and illustrated with reality with which they can resonate. Buford was born in the Silent Generation (1939) but spoke well to Boomers; Brooks caught the end of the Boomer bus (1964) but will be a valuable voice for his generation as well as the Busters behind him.
Without wanting this to sound like a “pitch,” let me offer my perspective: I didn’t learn the key lessons of life growing up at my family’s table, nor did my schooling offer a macro-view of life that would allow me to map the path from birth to significance. Church is the place where an overall biblical worldview gave me a foundation… but the insights I needed for LifeMastery, LifeMission and LifeStyle were not offered in Sunday School instruction: I discovered those from wise mentors.
People under 40 gain immense benefit from learning how to maximize their Fluid Intelligence, before they age-out. People over 40 need assistance in embracing their Crystallized Intelligence, and how that radically resets the navigational systems for a life well lived. Or, just settle for the mainstream.
For 25 years, that’s been the mission of The Master’s Program. We exist to help Christian leaders maximize each of life’s inevitable seasons. My advice: be an active part of our learning community: you won’t find what we offer anywhere else.
Two books you need on your shelf: Halftime, and From Strength to Strength. Don’t settle; stretch… and live to the fullest, through both halves of life!
