Mid Life Celebration

Satisfied Needs Do Not Motivate.

Do they?

This is a tricky mid-life crisis question, I think.

How do we come to mid-life, most of us anyway, and wake up one day, look in the mirror and ask, “How did I get here?  Where am I?  Who am I?  Where did all my childhood dreams go?”

Maybe our “needs” shifted.  Maybe our desire to satisfy our needs took a turn when we had so many, we couldn’t decide what to focus on, so we focused on what society was throwing in our face.

I’m not wise enough to know the answer.

All I know is that I feel like I still have valuable time left on this planet, and I want to make a difference.

Mother Theresa said, “If you can’t do great things, do small things with great love”.

At mid-life, I’ll take solace in that.

Carpe diem, jeff noel 

Mid-Life Crisis Character Builder, by Helen Keller:

“Character cannot be developed in ease and quite.  Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, and success achieved”.

In everything, give thanks.  Even our infirmities.

Carpe diem, jeff noel 

Is it worth all the hard work?

I submit to you it is worth all the hard work.

The challenge is, for most of us, we quit before we realize this.

We get so close.

So close in fact, that just a little more effort, time, patience, sweat, fear, worry, or creativity, would have led us around the corner to amazing results.

Take this past Friday for example.  A friend, colleague, partner, leader, boss, wise person, mentor, mentee, fellow human, etc., made the following comments to my new boss:

And I’m paraphrasing the best I can remember:

“No one on our team applies more of what we teach”.

And then he added:

“I’ve said this before, and it’s as true now as it was then, (at our organization) no one works harder, cares more, thinks deeper, or reaches higher than Jeff Noel”.

One word, “WOW”!

There have been times, as I’m sure there have been for you, that I’ve felt absolutely insignificant.

Self-doubt creeps in.

My advice to myself, which may or may not work for you, is:  “Stay the course”!

That brief, but significant moment on Friday has to be the highlight of my career.

Those who really know the humility I attempt to bring into daily living, will not be surprised by the boldness of today’s post.

Sometimes, in order to “prove” a point, you must put yourself out there as an example.  This time the example looks like an Olympic Gold medal.

And I humbly bow my head, as our National Anthem plays in the background, to accept the lifetime achievement award. 

Carpe diem and stay the course, jeff noel

PS.  You may have to change course, to stay the course.  This is difficult, but critical to your success.

We are all metaphorically heading north and there are many ways to get there, but “north” always remains the goal.

Mid-Life Peace.

“There is no peace without forgiveness.  No happiness without peace”.  — unknown

Profoundly simple.  Simply profound.

Carpe diem, jeff noel 

Pinch is a relative.  He lives in New Hampshire.

He’s 50-something.   A little older than me, and I turned 50 on June 8. 

He visited us March 31, 2009.  Here’s what I wrote as he spoke.  (BTW, I normally don’t write notes when I speak with family)

He’s smart.  He makes a lot of money.

He has a brilliant mind.  He’s not physically fit.

He has had more varied work experiences than most, including internationally.

He’s an ENTJ.

He speaks C-Suite.

Move.

Add.

Change.

EBIT – Earnings before interest and tax

TCO – Total cost of ownership

Goals versus needs – find out what needs to be done to reach the goals

People Types & Tiger Stripes

Lead generation for the organizational sale

Proactazyme?  Huh?

What does all this mean?

Pinch speaks a different language than me.

That’s OK with me. 

Carpe diem, jeff noel 

Mid-Life Marriage.

Today marks my 26th wedding anniversary with my wife.

I believe I’m the luckiest man in the Universe.  Seriously.

We met 30 years ago in a job interview.

She interviewed me for a Resident Assistant position at our Alma mater, West Chester University.

I got the job.

The story is so much more interesting than what’s contained here; however, it’s a tale for another time.

Until death do us part.  Words to live by.

Carpe diem, jeff noel 

Mid-Life Crisis Bridges

“The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn”.   – David Russell

One of the best ways to figure this out is simply to make choices, learn, and try again.

And many times, the choice we make is to not make a choice.

It’s no wonder learning takes so long.

I’d rather try and fail, than not try at all.

Carpe diem, jeff noel 

Mid-Life revenge?

“Revenge has no more quenching effect on emotions than salt water has on thirst”.   –  Walter Weckler

Peace, jeff noel 

Mid-Life Value of Courage.

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage”.   — Anais Nin

Courage.  Vision.  Passion.  Commitment.  Patience.  Hope.  Faith. And, ultimately, Love.

These are key mid-life crisis values.

But hey, who am I to tell anyone what to value.  It’s your choice. 

All I challenge you to do is make one. 

Carpe diem, jeff noel 

Happy Father’s Day.

Happy Summer Solstice, too.

“To escape criticism – do nothing, say nothing, be nothing”.  — Elbert Hubbard

At the risk of criticism……

John 3:16

Carpe diem, jeff noel

Baby Boomers to the economic rescue?

This Business Week writer, Nick Leiber, thinks so in his June 18 article, Entrepreneurship: The New Mid-Life Crisis

At age 50 – just made it on June 8 – I’ve already spent several years visioning what retirement might look and feel like.

For the past 18 months, I’ve been taking small steps, as time allows in my very busy mid-life schedule,  to be proactive.

What does that mean?

It means basically what the Business Week Small Business Blog article says.

Baby Boomers are, and will continue to be, tremendous entrepreneurs.

Carpe diem, jeff noel 

PS.  JFK once said, “The time to fix the roof is when the sun is shining”.

I say the time to think about retirement is a decade before it happens.

Love at Mid-Life.

“Love is all that matters”.  – jeff noel

Happy Friday everyone.

PS.  Ever Google the phrase Mid Life?  Eighty million Google results.  No wonder it’s a crisis.  Carpe diem, jeff  :)

“Life is a grindstone.  But whether it grinds us down or polishes us up, depends on us”.   — L. Thomas Holdcroft

It’s always our choice, isn’t it?

That’s what I’ve come to believe.

Some choices are extremely difficult.  Some very easy.

Mountains and valleys, eh?

Make today a GREAT day, because if you don’t, who will?  If not today, when?  Carpe diem, jeff noel 

Mid-Life Crisis treasure or trash?

“The wise man does not lay up his treasures.  The more he gives to others, the more he has for his own”.  — Lao-tzu

One of the coolest things about serving others is that you get so much more than you bargained for.  And I’m OK with that.

Make it a GREAT day, because if you don’t, who will?  If not today, then when?

Carpe diem, jeff noel 

Mid-Life Crisis do-over?

What would you do differently, if you knew then what you now know at mid-life?

Here’s an interesting mid-life perspective.  It’s from a greeting card from a few years ago.  Here’s what the card said.  Plus at the end, you can click on the hyperlink to see the entire poem, as well as Diane Loomans’ website.

**** If I Had My Child To Raise Over Again ****

If I had my child to raise over again, I’d finger-paint more and point my finger less.

I’d take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes.

I’d take more hikes and fly more kites.

I’d stop playing serious, and seriously play.

I’d do more hugging and less tugging.

I’d be firm less often, and affirm much more…

If I had my child to raise over again, I’d teach less about the love of power and more about the power of love.   –  Diane Loomans (adapted)