In the Meantime — What High Achievers Miss While Waiting

You've done everything you can to prepare. The event, the transition, the moment you've been building toward — it's coming. And now the only thing left to do is wait. For high achievers, that feeling is its own kind of torture.

But what if the waiting isn't wasted time? What if the meantime is exactly where the magic lives?

In this episode of Not Done Yet!, Dr. Brad Cooper explores one of the most overlooked opportunities in life's second half: the power of the pause. Drawing on a striking insight from author Jenny O'Dell, he reframes the in-between — the silence between sentences, the space between lightning and thunder — not as meaningless time to endure, but as a rare window to notice what we've been moving too fast to see.

Whether you're anticipating a retirement, a milestone event, a life transition, or simply the next chapter you can't quite name yet, this episode offers a new lens for how to inhabit the present moment with intention — without minimizing what's ahead.

This one is short. Quiet. And it might be exactly what you need to hear today.

Topics covered: mindfulness for high achievers, presence and purpose, life transitions, midlife waiting, second half of life, intentional living, slowing down, finding meaning in the present, Jenny O'Dell, John Lennon, not done yet, life's second half, personal growth after 50, purpose in retirement, embracing uncertainty

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Transcript

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You feel like you're stuck in a holding pattern? Circling and circling and circling, but not quite yet ready to land. Something's coming around the bin, but its arrival remains out of reach. It's not an unusual feeling. And as our traditional distractions may take a back seat in life's second half, it's not unusual for it to lean over and grab the wheel. Perhaps it's tied to your or maybe a family member's new phase of life, a graduation, a wedding, a birth of a child or grandchild, a new job or new role at work, the launch of your company or a new division, retirement or getting ready for retirement. Or maybe it's a big event, a celebration, an important meeting, a vacation, a race, a big date. You know it's coming. You've done all you can do to prepare, and now the only thing left to do is well wait. You know, that favorite activity among high performers? The close cousin to patience, one of our favorite words. In the meantime, how do we respond? How do we wait? Ignore it and busy ourselves with various tasks? Try to control the outcome by engrossing ourselves in likely marginally effective at best activities? Or do we cycle through a version of our self-created purgatory, allowing our mind to construct various potential outcomes between heaven and hell? I'm Dr. Brad Cooper, co-founder of Cattle's Coaching 360 way back in 2007, and your fellow traveler on this journey through life's second half. As I move into my 60s and interact with a lot of people about moving into and through this phase, I have become more and more convinced that this phase, we represent one of the most valuable untapped resources on earth. Yes, I get it. I live it. Life's second half is different, it's unique. But as we lean in with purpose, the awaiting possibilities take shape. And that's why we're here. And that's why I'm grateful to have you join me. So let's get back to that mean time that sits between where we are and where we're heading, or where we think we're heading. Maybe there's another option that exists within that very, and we'll put it in quotes here, meantime. Author Jenny O'Dell flipped my entire view of this concept completely upside down. Here's her quote. In the meantime, you wait with your ear to the ground for patterns of vibration that will never repeat themselves. You look for an opening, take it, and don't look back. Wow. Let me read that again, because you're you don't get to see it in front of you. You're hearing me say it. So let me read it again to you. In the meantime, so in this phase that we're talking about, in this waiting period, you wait with your ear to the ground for patterns of vibration that will never repeat themselves. So this is an active waiting. This changes it a lot, doesn't it? You look for an opening, take it, and don't look back. So wait a minute. All of this stuff that she's talking about, this this occurs in the meantime? It's during this meantime when we elevate our senses, when we listen ever more closely, when we tune into previously unnoticed patterns of vibration that will never repeat themselves? Admittedly, my tendency is instead to view in the meantime as more like in the meaningless time. It's the time before the thing that matters, the silence between the sentences, the pause separating lightning and thunder. But maybe we're missing it. Or at least I am. Perhaps the true magic is in that meantime. John Lennon's memorable lyrics, which were gleaned from Alan Saunders, reminded us life is what happens when we're busy making plans. That delivered a similar message to what we're talking about here. Might we be missing the point, waiting for the punchline? What if today, for just 24 hours, we tried on a new lens, a meantime lens, without minimizing the excitement surrounding the big event that's sitting there waiting up ahead? We examine the ground on which we currently stand. Not just a glance, a deep dive, bringing to light previously unrecognized opportunities and discoveries. Maybe it involves pausing to appreciate a new food, noticing the powerfully graceful flight of a hawk, tuning in to a friend's unique gifts, the sound of a gentle wind rustling through the trees, or that quiet voice inside that provides a glimpse of the divine in this singular moment. This singular moment. Landmark events in our lives are valuable, focusing our energy, effort, and resources in a singular direction. But perhaps in the meantime, there's another route to take. Thank you for joining me here on the Not Dun Yud Podcast. Short one today. I'm excited about our journey ahead and the impact that we can have together on the world as we shift our expectations, lean into possibilities, and live with intentions. I'm trying to give you a couple of pondering prompts for these discussions, whether it's something you're doing with friends, a spouse, something you're journaling about, or just taking it from concept to application. So here are three for this week. Number one, the meantime inventory. Think of a significant event or transition that you're currently anticipating. What patterns of vibration might you be missing right now because your attention is fixed on what's coming? What might you notice if you pressed your ear to the ground today? Number two, reframing the pause. Where in your life has you have you been treating the mean time as meaningless time? The silence between things that you think matter? Looking back, what gifts or discoveries were hidden in those in-between spaces that you only recognize later? And then number three, if you committed to wearing a mean time lens for just one day this week, what small thing, one small thing, a sound, a person, a moment, would you choose to experience more deeply than you normally allow yourself to do? So there's a few to get you started. Until next time, here's to being a catalyst. Upward aiming, forward oriented, and not done yet.