In this episode Clark talks about what he is learning and how he continues to cope with Dealing with 40. He talks about...

The false notion, which perhaps comes from a place of humility, that Service > Success.

Clark says that Service is not greater than success. And neither is Success greater than service.

Service is Success.

Not service leads to success. Service IS Success. Service = Success.

Success = Service.

More interviews coming later this week. Have someone you'd like Clark to interview. Email him at [email protected].

Today my guest is John Bronson.

John Bronson's career includes 20 years of experience as a professional journalist and 20 years of experience in corporate PR. He spent 10 years working as a writer and editor in Pittsburgh with the AP and was the business editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette before jumping over to US Airways to establish a regional corporate affairs function at the airline’s then-largest hub in Pittsburgh. He later worked with US Airways in Washington, DC heading up employee communications. But he was in the airline industry in some tumultuous times --  mergers, bankruptcies, 9/11, five fatal crashes in five consecutive years and more.

His career also included a stint in Zurich, Switzerland, which he called the capstone of his career.

John retired in 2013 and promptly moved to Tahoe -- So Tahoe -- that’s our connection. John and his wife Mary bought their first winter timeshare at Squaw Valley in 1982 so their move in 2013 was like coming home. John was introduced to me years back when I was looking for an editor for a project I won’t mention for legal reasons -- and that’s a story in itself.

I have to say I’ve admired John from the first time I met him. I’ve viewed him as someone who stuck a balance similar to what I am looking for in terms of career and family life. I’ve observed the close relationship he has with his kids -- and I enjoy his embrace of life -- from his stories to hitchhiking Europe and getting a job at a ski resort in Switzerland in his younger years -- to moving to Tahoe and watching him continue his adventures in his older years. When you hear John talk about his life and career, there was intentionality. There’s a move to Austria, because skiing was a passion and he knew that he wanted  travel to be a big part of his life. He figures out how to work in the airline industry so he could have access to free flights.

Things I appreciated about this interview:

John talked about 20-40 being a time to gather experiences and make mistakes and grow in wisdom, and at 40 your career is just getting started.

Family obligations and feeling less free to make mistakes after 40.

Gather experience and follow your gut. You may not be sure where they are taking you, but they are taking you where you need to go. I loved this as he talked about getting to his Zurich experience at the end of his career.

Parting wisdom. 1. Keep moving. 2. Eat right. 3. Spend less than you make. 

Today my guest is Nancy Sathre-Vogel.

This woman is a legend. An inspiration.

I remember where I was when I first heard about this woman -- when she and her family first came across my radar screen. It was about ten years ago -- and I was trying to figure out my life  -- which I guess is a theme. And I heard that this family had just completed a bike ride from Alaska to Argentina.

I heard that and I was like, man, I can do anything.

Like, seriously. It was a big moment for me. And I figured if Nancy and her family could do that, I could design any kind of life I’d like too.

After 21 years in a classroom teaching other people’s kids, Nancy Sathre-Vogel decided to throw caution to the wind and head out with her own children. Together with her husband and 8 – year-old twin sons, she spent a year biking around the USA and Mexico. Flushed with success from that experience, the family decided they wanted more – which lead to a jaunt from Alaska to Argentina. After cycling 17,285 miles through 15 countries in 33 months, the boys had earned the distinction of being the youngest people to cycle the length of the Americas.

Nancy and her family made their home in Boise, Idaho after their adventures where they enjoyed the simple things in life – like turning a handle and having water magically appear. They continued with their atypical education until entering university in 2016. Now, Nancy owns her own small metalsmithing business, making and selling jewelry made from recycled copper.

After being online friends for a while -- a few years ago I got to finally meet Nancy in person. I was in Boise on business and got to hang out with Nancy at one of those community events where artisans set up.

What I appreciated about the interview:

Nancy is clearly a high capacity person who could be successful in multiple paths. She chose family and adventure over career. She’s 59 and has no regrets.

She did not maximize her “earning potential” or feel like she needed to fulfill society’s expectations. She chose a different path. It was good for me to hear, at 59, that she still does not regret this.

This is an important message for me. I am asking, “Should I be spending more time on my career? Will I regret not doing so?” Nancy seems to think no.

I loved her push back to the idea that bigger is better -- that we need to follow-up doing something amazing with doing something more amazing. After she finished riding her bike from Alaska to Argentina, she didn’t go on a bigger bike ride. She went to Boise and started making jewelry.

She was able to call herself a success at different times in life while doing different things as her definition of success changed.

Her children were born, her father died, and her mother was diagnosed with cancer all within a very short period of time. This seems to have had a huge impact on her and how she arranged her life.

Find Nancy at http://nancysathrevogel.com/ on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/nsathrevogeljewelry/ and on Twitter @familyonbikes.

In this episode I recap where I'm at and how I feel as I go to work on Monday morning of the first work week of my 40s.

I share my mantra: "Enjoy the process and trust God with the results."

And talk about trying to work purposefully but not frantically.

I talk about themes that came up in the first three interviews on Dealing with 40 (Bud Bence, Rick Soto, Floyd Brown). I talk about how some of the things shared in these interviews would have sounded like "settling" or "lowering expectations" to me a few years ago, but how they are now beginning to make sense.

No interview in this episode. I have more interviews scheduled for this week. If you have someone you'd like to hear interviewed on this podcast, please reach out to me and make that recommendation. You can reach me at [email protected].

Today my guest is a man I owe a lot to -- a man who’s gotten bigger in my mind as time has gone on -- my former boss  -- Floyd Brown.

Floyd Brown has worked for the last thirty five years in politics and media.

Time magazine wrote: “Brown has a stature among devoted conservatives that almost matches his physical heft (6 ft. 6 in. and 240 lbs.)”.

Floyd is the publisher of The Western Journal. Since its founding in 2014, The Western Journal has grown to become one of America’s 50 largest digital media companies. According to the analytics firm Newswhip, WesternJournal.com is one of the most popular websites on social media.

He is the author of five books including the 1992 bestseller, Slick Willie, Why America Cannot Trust Bill Clinton. His latest book is the recently published Big Tech Tyrants.

From 2001 until 2006, he supervised the preservation of Rancho del Cielo, Ronald Reagan’s Ranch. He supervised the construction of the 25 million-dollar Reagan Ranch Center in downtown Santa Barbara, California.

From 1995 to 2001, Floyd was a host on Hot Talk 570 KVI in Seattle, Washington. He has appeared on many TV shows including: FOXNEWS’ Tucker Carlson Show, the CBS Evening News, ABC’s Primetime, NBC’s Today Show, CNN, CNBC and more.

Beginning in 1988 until 2001, Floyd was the founding president of Citizens United.

Floyd started his career in President Reagan’s campaigns and as a political appointee in Reagan’s administration.

Things that struck me about this interview:

1. Floyd turned 40 right around the time I met him, when I was in my first job out of college. At the time, I felt like Floyd was a huge success and the image of confidence. Floyd dispels that idea -- and tells me what he was really feeling inside at the time.

2. How productive your years between 40 and 60 are.  "When you hit your 40s, your most productive days are still ahead of you."

3. His changed view of success. How he used to think success was about money and possessions and now he understands it's about people and relationships.

4. God uses humble people, not arrogant people. Floyd was arrogant, and needed to be humbled.

5. Floyd made his money when he wasn't focused on money. "Money finally came when I wasn't thinking about the money anymore." It was when Floyd started to think about service and people instead of being focused on himself.

Today my guest is Rick Soto.

Rick and I go way back. He was one of the first people I met and had a real conversation with after I moved to Santa Barbara in 2002. When my future wife and I were involved in a serious accident in the middle of the night on October 27, 2002, I told the first officer on the scene, "Call Rick Soto." At the time Rick was a pastor at Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara.

Rick is married to his lovely wife Jane for 29 years, they fell in love while serving the Lord in the former Soviet Union. They have 4 sons.

You can find Rick at SimpleBibleCommentary.com and on Twitter he’s @GoRickSoto.

He can also be found at RanchChurch.com

In 2018 when I was going through the darkest time of my life, Rick is someone I turned to. Over the years I have always appreciated his insight and friendship.

Things that struck me in this interview:

1. "40 is the old age of youth and 60 is the youth of old age."

2. The gift of limitations. At 40 you start to recognize certain limitations on your life, and limitations are a gift because they allow you to hone in on where your gifts really are.

3. Rick said he was tired at 40, and when he said it, I felt it. 40 for him was a pivot point where he hit a wall and fell apart emotionally.

4. In January 2019 Rick was involved in a major accident that drastically altered his life. It was a "forced rest" and his perspective recently coming out of this experience was interesting to me.

5. At 40 he was reactionary. Now he moves at a less frantic pace. He's more strategic.

"God has open doors before me that no man can shut."

"I wake up every morning and there are doors opened up before me."

"I'm much more at peace with who I'm not."

Today my guest is Dr. Bud Bence.

It’s hard for me to put into words just how much this man has meant to my life. In certain circles -- this is a man who needs no introduction. Certainly there’s a timeframe where if you were a student where I went to school -- Indiana Wesleyan University  -- just the name Bud BEnce elicits all kinds of emotion.

There was nothing so stirring as a Bud Bence lecture. I mean it could really get your heart pounding. Undergrad in Philosophy at Houghton College. M. Div in Church History at Asbury Theological Seminary. Ph.D in historical theology at Emory University.

I remember him teaching classes like Church History and learning about Martin Luther. I took a course called The Theology of holiness with Bud. But what I and most of his students remember most about him weren’t his lectures -- and, I’m telling you -- his lectures were memorable. It was Bud’s heart that endeared students to him.

And that’s been evidenced in Bud’s retirement years as he’s sat with countless students like me to talk about life -- to be that counselor and that friend. This conversation  is similar to one Bud and I have had multiple times over the years -- and one I know he’s had with many of my classmates.

Things that struck me:

1. The need to be vulnerable. To have a few people in your life you are vulnerable with and put yourself out there with. The layers of friends, and how important that inner-circle is.

2. The transition from success being defined by "power" to success being defined by "influence."

3. The importance of failure and providence in finding your purpose.

4. Earning the respect of your kids.

I was struck by this quote where he talked about not getting what he wanted, and a transition time in his life:

In this episode Clark Vandeventer introduces the Dealing with 40 Project.  In short, Clark's had a really hard time dealing with 40.

And he's spent a lot of time processing where he is and how he has not lived up to his own expectations.

He's wanted to talk to people. To go back to old mentors and talk with them. To talk to some of the men and women who knew him when he was 20 years old. And they’re 60 or 80 now. Talk with other people he looks up to who are a little older and a little wiser and talk with them about life.

And ask questions like, "Did you feel this way when you were 40?"

Dealing with 40 is a series of interviews where Clark asks deep questions about life.

From Clark:

This a declaration, a plea, and an invitation.

A declaration to live and to seek my destiny. A declaration to become the very best version of myself and to do great things.

A plea that you would be patient with me, and with others. I have issues and I’m insecure. Please give me grace and know that even if I say something foolish or do something wrong that my heart is in the right place. Remember this of others too. Be kind. I’m guessing that you have your issues too. So please, please, let us affirm one another. I think we all probably spend enough time condemning ourselves.

An invitation to join me on this journey. Lean in with me. Share the lessons that you have learned and the perspective you have gained. Listen to the wisdom shared by the people I interview as a part of this project. Commit to being the best version of yourself.