Beyond Success
When Ambition's No Longer Enough

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Most of us spend early adulthood rightfully "doing", mastering the external achievements of career. Suddenly we find ourselves in mid-life, concerned with "being" - asking deeper questions about internal fulfillment. Adolescence gone and maturity ahead, we stand at a turning point, wondering, "What will five my life meaning, now that ambition is no longer enough?" All maturity, all growth, depend on leaving behind something familiar - a way of life that may still work but is somehow no longer enough - and moving on to something unfamiliar, and often uncomfortable. The payoff is worth it.

Principal Points:

• Baby Boomers are the Mid-Life Generation. North America is experiencing the largest societal mid-life transition in history, with enormous implications for business and family life.
• The best predictor of our later years is how we handle mid-life. The best predictor of mid-life is adolescence/
• Most people who achieve fame in adulthood were "outies" in adolescence. They worked hard to live down their high school image.
• We're all getting older. Some of us mature,, others simply grow old.
• The purpose of mid-life is to ask meaningful questions now, and that we do not enter our later years with unasked questions. Questions like, :What if...?" and "If only... ."
• Men and Women are reared and constituted so differently that marriage is an example of cross-cultural communication.
• The "superwoman" syndrome exists because we allow women more latitude in crossing traditional role boundaries than we allow men.

How You Can Use This Presentation:

This "life-cycle" topic is a superb closing presentation; it established my career. It is the most emotionally moving and introspective of the talks, generating big laughs and tears - and usually a standing ovation. Its focus on relationships makes it an especially useful session for couples.

Ranging from one to two hours, "Beyond Success" is always done in full Lecture Theatre format, with piano and singing, and can include "Marlboro Man/Marlboro Woman" material, described in Custom Topics.

What Clients Say About This Presentation:

"I heard you speak at the IDS National Conference in Hawaii. Your presentation made a huge impression on me. You planted the seed of change. Four years later I find myself embarked on a new and exciting career that I hadn't even dreamed existed for me. I am living life more fully. I have grown exponentially as an individual.

I am writing because just this past weekend I watched some of your tapes that another IDS employee had purchases. In the one on stress I heard you say, 'I hold no illusions that listening to one of my 90-minute lectures will have a major impact on your life and bring about great change."

I just wanted you to know that for this one person, one of your 90-minute lectures did just that. Thank you."
-Deborah Baird, employee spouse, IDS, An American Express Company

"Many complemented us on the courage and vision to close the business meeting on a personal note. I would recommend you whenever appropriate, and welcome any calls directed to that end."
-Richard G. Averitt, III, Senior Vice President, Investment Management & Research, Inc.

Quotes From The Talk:

What the Audience Learns:

1. To Look beyond success for meaning in life.
2. Why some couples come together as others come apart.
3. How to prepare my children for the next stages of their lives.
4. How to make the mid-life corrections that will bring me to the end of my life saying, "This has been my life. I have found it worth living. I would gladly live it again if the chance were offered to me."