Bob Buford is serving as a contributing writer to the American City Business Journals.

Twice per month, Bob’s writing is featured in 46 Business Journals across the U.S. This week’s article features current Halftime Institute CEO and new author, Dean Niewolny. Dean’s debut book, Trade Up releases on July 18.

For a complete list of all Bob Buford’s articles in the American City Business Journals, CLICK HERE. 

Restless? You’re Not Alone

Jul 13, 2017, 3:05am EST

 

You could almost cue the Hitchcock music when it happened. There I was, standing in my 40 th floor corner office, looking out over downtown Chicago from what most people would consider a pretty nice perch.

I had achieved most all that I had ever dreamed of, which, at the time, mostly consisted of material things: cars, money, houses, prestige. I was an expert in my field and I knew how blessed and lucky I was to be there.

But then…that gnawing feeling began, first quietly, then a bit louder, and one day it became a roar. “Smoldering discontent” is what I now call it. It was an underlying desire for more meaning and purpose.

It was relentless. It made it difficult to fully enjoy all of the perks of success. I even foolishly thought that perhaps more toys and things would make it go silent. I was wrong.

I sometimes wondered, Is it just me? How can this be happening when things are going so well? It was all so counterintuitive that at first I felt like I shouldn’t tell anyone about it. It seemed too crazy, and even explaining it would be daunting.

When most of the world would trade with me in a second, here I was — uncomfortable, edgy and, truthfully, not even sure what was happening to me.

A halftime strategy

Then, it happened. I read Bob Buford’s bestselling book, Halftime,and here’s what I learned: Back in the ’90s, Bob had asked Peter Drucker to be his mentor when he was building a thriving cable TV business. Over the years, they became good friends and had a lot of useful and profitable conversations about how to build a great organization.

Then, what happened to me happened to Bob Buford — the uneasiness, the “Is this all there is?” question. Bob was going through a season of review, re-evaluation and resetting that we now call halftime. Bob and Peter started having fewer conversations about his cable TV business and more about what Bob was going through personally. Thankfully, Peter had the wisdom that turned out to be exactly what I and a few hundred thousand others like me also needed…READ MORE