Steve Jobs said, “I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.” Throughout my biashara life I have preferred to do rather than to learn theory. I know both are important for successful execution of a project but I have never really enjoyed class work. Actually the only class learning I enjoyed was at USIU when doing my MBA in 1999. It was because a lot of it was project based learnings using current market trends and happenings in the business scene then. This was important to me because I was running a cafeteria in Langata with my mum and sister.
I tend to think most business people prefer the actioning stage much more than the planning stage. Perhaps that’s why some of us couldn’t keep a job. I have mentioned here before that one of the surprises of midlife for me was this writing. All the writing I have done before my 40s was not voluntary. It was for seating exams and filling applications for courses or bank loans. Maybe that’s why I have a horrible handwriting. I keep joking I was meant to be a doctor because it’s the only profession that I have consistently encountered almost illegible handwriting when getting prescriptions. I’m convinced pharmacists have supernatural eyes to read those prescriptions and give correct medicine. I think bad handwriting is a requirement for graduation from Med school.
No one prepared me for the transition that is halftime because it required the opposite of what I was used to all my life – waiting. The word waiting is to make the halftime period sound neat but doing nothing or wandering in the darkness is more like it – a place of nothingness as I described in a past blog here.
About four years ago my pal Eva referred me to the book that has now become my manual for living out this transition from first half to second half. – Halftime by Bob Buford. I read it and finally felt as if someone gets what I’m going through. Halftime is a lonely and messy journey. You go through motions that no one (including yourself) understands. I wondered for a long time what was happening to me and my world. Then to my surprise last year Halftime Institute shows up in East Africa for the first time and more specifically through my church. This was a huge answer to a prayer I probably had not made. I think the good Lord above just felt sorry for the lost soul I had become and sent me help in a big way right up to my door step.
Since then I (and a team of half timers) have been undergoing training to be halftime facilitators and coaches. Mathilda who heads the Halftime institute in South Africa has been gracious to hand hold us and is helping us set up Halftime institute East Africa. To this end we were required to carry out our first workshop as a sign that we are committed. This excited me because we were now in the doing part after what felt like an eternity of planning and learning.
We attempted twice unsuccessfully to get a cohort off the ground. I wondered why guys are not rushing to sign up because this workshop is like Google Maps to the destination that is a life of meaning and significance. Last week, we eventually had our first ever Halftime workshop in East Africa right here in Nairobi. It was a full house and those two days were another confirmation that this is one of the things I should be doing going forward. Helping folks go through this treacherous yet life-determining season of their lives well so as to truly live, not just exist.
Karen Country Club was a perfect venue for guys to process their life’s journey. Even the birds were cheering them on to discover a life of significance. We had a good mix of ladies and chaps from top guys in corporate Kenya to folks running their own businesses. Another interesting observation was that halftime doesn’t just happen at 40 years of age. We had some guys in their 30s and one in her late twenties.
I enjoyed sharing the material and roadmaps with the class using my halftime journey. My buddy Alex was the lead facilitator and he landed the plane very smoothly for the participants to grasp and relate the content with their lives’ journey. It’s been about three years since I tried to contact the Halftime Institute inviting their founder Bob Buford to come speak in Kenya. I think my email invite went to spam because they did not respond. Now here I was having been part of the core team setting up Halftime Institute right here at home with a class to show for it. One of the participants read the halftime book ten years ago and is doing the class now. That goes to show that time has to pass for something meaningful to happen.
I feel better prepared now representing this global brand whose sole mission is to help men and women transition to do exactly what they were created for. Now that’s a noble and high calling that I want to be a part of. I thank God for not answering my prayers back then on halftime or moving on into areas I thought were my next calling. He saved me the embarrassment and now I feel better cooked for the task ahead. Mathilda also told us there were other people interested in the franchise before we came along but she felt we were the right fit when we made contact.
Folks, two things I learnt last week after launching our first Halftime workshop. First that it’s true that good things come to those who wait. Secondly when it’s time for an idea whose time has come nothing can stop it. Folks let’s persevere in waiting and resist being busy bodies. I know that’s the hardest thing to do for busy folks but it’s the only way we will get clarity on our next big move. And once you land on your next calling, the waiting will have been a small price to pay. Our destiny depends on it.
Oh and if you sense this is for you please save the date 11th to 13th July for our next roadmaps workshop at Karen Country Club. Details on poster above. Ten slots remaining.
Great article Lucas. Bilbo and Sam in the Lord of Thehe Rings get to a threshold and say; “if we take one more step, we will be further from home than we’ve ever been” – the journey to the unknown labyrinth of Halftime is scary but the results are incredible!
All the best Lucas! You are destined for great stuff!