My former Stanford colleague Andy Chan (now Vice President for Innovation and Career Development at Wake Forest) has a great question that he uses to help someone determine where they are in a given journey or experience:
Are you in the first half or the second half?
It's applicable in any context--a job, a career, a lifetime--and its simplicity cuts through the distractions that can cloud our perspective on the future. And because we often don't (and can't) know the answer with any certainty, the real value comes from the feelings and intuitions that emerge as we reflect on the question and their implications for choices we face going forward. For example:
- A job: I'm in my fourth year in my role as a Leadership Coach at Stanford, and I'm as certain as we can be about anything that I'll continue in this role through the end of 2010. So if I'm in the first half of this experience, it'll continue for at least another 4+ years, lasting into 2015--and that feels like a long way off right now. Alternatively, if I'm in the second half of this experience, it'll end within the next three years, before 2013--and while I don't feel an urgent need to make a transition, that timetable feels a little more balanced. So this suggests that I may be in the second half of this experience, and if so, it's probably early in the third quarter.
- A career: In contrast, I'm in my fifth year as an executive coach, and I'm absolutely certain that I'm in still in the first half of this career. While I've come a long way and learned a great deal since making the leap from management into coaching, by definition this isn't a profession that one ever masters--coaches must be lifelong learners, approaching each engagement with a beginner's mind. At this point I hope to coach as long as I live, and yet I may never feel that I'm in the second half.
- A lifetime: That said, in a few months I'll be 43, and while I'm hopeful that it's still somewhat early in the second half of my life, it feels safe to say that halftime is over. Rather than induce feelings of sadness, this awareness triggers a deep appreciation for life and every remaining moment that I've been granted, feelings that are only reinforced by the recent loss of Amy's father and Roanak Desai, one of my Stanford students.
This question--Are you in the first half or the second half?--is also a nice complement to my Time Horizons framework. Asking ourselves where we are in the time horizons that matter most to us is a useful way to get even more specific about our feelings and how they impact the choices we face within that horizon.
Thanks to Andy Chan for his support and insights.
Photo by Bobby Hidy.
