The Pursuit of Wisdom - Ben Lytle

Retiring? Don't drift into the lazy river. Design Your New (active and interesting) Life. Learn More _______________________ In days gone by, people used to think they were done - and headed off to retirement. Not any more. Now, the questions to ask yourself  are what's my potential for the likely decades that lie ahead? And how can I live well - and wisely? Ben Lytle, former CEO of Anthem, and author of The Potentialist: The Pursuit of Wisdom, believes that wisdom and potential are our ideal adaptive responses for the interesting times we're living in today. He also believes that wisdom and untapped potential reside in everyone, waiting to be released. Ben Lytle joins us from Scottsdale, Arizona. __________________ Bio Ben Lytle is a self-made serial entrepreneur and CEO known for being ahead of the curve. He is the author of "The Potentialist: Your Future in the New Reality of the Next Thirty Years," a guidebook for success during the fast-changing, turbulent, and opportunity-rich times ahead. His new book in the series is The Potentialist: The Pursuit of Wisdom. Ben is best known as the founding CEO of Anthem, Inc. (NYSE), one of the leading US health plans with a market capitalization placing it in the top tier of the Fortune 500; and Acordia, Inc. (NYSE), which became the world’s sixth-largest insurance broker. He cofounded three companies with his entrepreneurial son, Hugh, and invests in technologies that address New Reality challenges, such as increasing productivity to offset declining populations, caring for the elderly, and preserving human legacies. Ben has extensive public policy experience at the state and federal levels and has held board leadership roles in a wide range of industries. His contributions have been recognized by numerous awards and in books and periodicals. He has been a speaker and university guest lecturer on health, healthcare policy, entrepreneurship, and human potential throughout his career. Beyond his career, Ben’s passions include his family of three adult children and eight adult grandchildren, along with lifelong avocations for physical fitness, travel, reading, human potential, the future, and education. ________________________ For More on Ben Lytle The Potentialist: The Pursuit of Wisdom Website - potentialistfuture.com ________________________ Mentioned in This Podcast Episode The Many Ways WSJ Readers Use AI in Their Everyday Lives ________________________ Podcast Episodes You May Like Retiring: Creating a Life That Works for You – Teresa Amabile The Art of the Interesting – Lorraine Besser, PhD Turning the Page in Retirement – Stephen Riggio Your Next Act – Robert B. Tucker __________________________ Wise Quotes On Refining, Not Retiring "...this started about 20 years ago. I had recently stepped down. I've never really retired. I have refined and I'll explain that. But I had stepped down from Anthem and I was asked to write an article about what it was like to be running this gigantic enterprise and then suddenly go be doing startups and all other kinds of things, wilderness hiking and all kinds of things. And I wrote the title of the article, and ended up being in search of a phase name because I felt that at that time I didn't have the word yet. But I said, you know, I don't see anybody retired in the industrial age concept. The concept was you work, you retire and then you die about three or four years later, but you have a few years there. Well, it's not that way anymore. First of all, we live a lot longer. And so we're essentially increasingly changing careers or changing our direction in life in in midlife, almost midlife or at the two-thirds point. You're not down within the 10 yard line. And so it's really changed. And so it does need a new definition. And so it hit me a few years ago about when I was writing the first book, the word refinement and to me, Joe,