In some ways it is easier to keep moving forward, isn’t it? There’s a momentum in doing our daily activities and that momentum can push us along for years without even noticing. But I have learned that sometimes it’s best to stop the train and take some time to think about the destination and the journey. It takes some effort, but it’s the only way to get strategic about our lives and living with purpose.
For me, that happened in my 40s. I was living in Houston, working in the oil and gas business. I went to work for Natural Gas Clearinghouse when it first started out. I was employee No. 185 when I was hired. Over time, the company grew to more than 6700 employees and became Dynegy, a successful, publicly traded company. When Enron failed, it put the industry in flux and I saw an opportunity. I left Dynegy in 2003 and with two great co-founders and partners, started a company called Eagle Energy Partners, a natural gas and physical power marketer in the U.S. Thankfully that venture was very successful and we sold it to Lehman Brothers in 2007.
Then, Lehman Brothers went bankrupt in the 2008 crash and so one of my partners and I organized to buy the company back. I spent the next couple of years as CEO of their North American Physical Marketing and Trading operation. Again, we achieved success, but it wasn’t long before I felt the tug of my entrepreneurial heart. So, I left that job to launch a company called Twin Eagle Resource Management in 2010.
Here is why I share all of these details about my business life: I was strategic there. I had plans and dreams and I pulled all of the pieces together to make them come true. I found the right accountants and lawyers and partners and then I went out and made it happen. It seemed so easy in many ways. Almost effortless. It was in my DNA to start my own business and work in it. I poured all of my strategy, intentionality, and energy into those ventures and they went well.
It was all satisfying, no doubt. But I started hearing the tiniest drumbeat, a rock in my shoe that I couldn’t shake. Was there more to life than this?
Someone gave me a copy of Bob Buford’s book, “Halftime”, and it got me wondering about a lot of things that I was doing and how I was spending my time, energy and money. It spoke to me and for the first time defined this uncomfortable feeling I was experiencing but couldn’t name. I realized I was not alone and that there were a lot of people who were dealing with these same feelings. My Halftime coach, Lloyd Reeb, calls it ‘smoldering discontent.’ That was an apt description to be sure.
Then, a couple of years later, my wife and I went to a couples’ retreat in Houston hosted by Lloyd Reeb. The event was pivotal for me and my wife. But I left there with this persistent and haunting question: If I’m going to live the life I was intended to live shouldn’t I be as intentional about figuring that out as I am about building and running a business?
Here’s what I mean: When we launch a business, we start with a big idea. We spend time honing it. We dream a lot, but we are also realistic about it all. We are strategic, but we are also tactical.
• What do we need to do this?
• What are the outcomes we want?
• Who should be on our team of advisers to guide us to the outcomes we expect?
• What kind of adjustments will we need to make along the way to get there?
• What are the hurdles?
• What do each of us bring to the table to make this happen?
I realized that I needed to be just as intentional and strategic about my life. In fact, I found that a lot of the same questions apply. I needed a good team of advisers who had my best interest at heart and who I trusted implicitly. I needed a coach who had been through a similar season. I needed information. I needed to understand that this whole halftime thing wasn’t a ‘one and done’ type of deal. It’s a journey and every journey requires adjustments and pauses and rethinking.
But when you’re running hard in business it’s not easy to slow down and do the work of planning your next season intentionally.
Eventually, I went through the Halftime Fellows Program, where a collection of peers meet to learn together and go through a carefully honed process. There were 10 people in that room and there were 10 different paths that each of us took after we went through the program. It’s different for everybody. For some, they were encouraged to use the marketplace as a ministry. Others considered new ventures, and some went on to become social entrepreneurs. Many were reaffirmed to continue down a similar path but with a different energy and with a solid plan in place to avoid drifting into what was comfortable and instead to live with intentionality.
Me? I went back to my role leading Twin Eagle, but with an altogether different attitude and mind-set. I have new benchmarks I’m measuring against, and they aren’t limited to ROI. Our company is my calling for now, and that changes the way I show up each day and the difference I want the company to make — in the marketplace and in the community.
I am certain that this entrepreneurial life is a calling for me. I am built and wired to do this. I am using it to help others in ways that I could not if I chose something else. At least for now, this is where I am supposed to be.
I am still moving forward but in a different way than before. As I go, I am paying close attention to all of the signs along the way and acting accordingly. Who knows? The train may need to stop again or even change tracks altogether, and I need to be ready.
Griff Jones co-founded Twin Eagle Resource Management, LLC, and serves as its president and chief executive. Twin Eagle currently has over 400 employees and is an energy marketing and infrastructure company.