Finishing Well: What People Who "Really Live" Do Differently [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

Bob Buford (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 13, 2004

Based on inspiring interviews with 60 remarkable people who have furthered their significance rather than to rest on their success. Includes trailblazers such as Peter Drucker, Roger Staubach, and Ken Blanchard.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

It's never too late (or too early) to begin finishing well!

In wanting to encourage you to finish well, author Bob Buford has gone to lunch with "some of the smartest people on the planet" and invited you to join them. People such as Peter Drucker, Jim Collins, Dr. Kenneth Cooper, George Gallup, Howard Hendricks, Roger Staubach and Bill Pollard detail how they've gone beyond success to significance in their 40s and beyond, and by their words, you can learn how you too can accomplish work that has eternal purpose and meaning until the day you die.

SOME OF THEIR PEARLS OF WISDOME INCLUDE:

"If people see their best years behind them, they're probably not going to finish very well, because you can't finish well when you're going backwards."

"We can retire from our jobs but we can never retire from our calling."

"We live pale and empty lives here on earth because we're ignorant about what lies ahead, and we need to see that the dimensions of life are so much greater than what we can see, hear, and touch today."

"We are made to work; and to maintain meaning in our lives, we need to be engaged in work that has meaning and purpose."

"People who achieve have a habit of achievement that begs for sustaining."

"As long as you're able to do something meaningful, why would you want to go into some kind of holding pattern?"

Buford doesn't just ask these "second season trailblazers" what finishing well looks like. He lays out practical strategies and offers additional valuable perspective that can ready you for a rich future, whether you're 20 or 80. It's never too late (or too early) to start living a meaningful life!

About the Author

After selling Buford Television, Inc. -- a large network of cable systems across the country -- in July 1999, BOB BUFORD has turned to investing the remaining years of his life in the lives of others. He is chairman of the board of The Buford Foundation and Leadership Network, was the co-founder and first chairman of the Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management, and has authored three books, including the bestseller Halftime. He and his wife, Linda, make their home in Dallas, Texas.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 296 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (July 13, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591451108
• ISBN-13: 978-1591451105
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #639,970 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Until its sale in 1999, Bob Buford served as Chairman and CEO of Buford Television, Inc., a family-owned business that started with an ABC affiliate in Tyler, Texas, and grew to a network of cable systems across the US.

In 1995, Buford wrote Halftime, a book that came from his mind and heart on how to find meaning and fulfillment in the second half of life. Those who read Halftime and Game Plan (published in 1997) often ask what Bob is involved in as a result of his own "halftime" experience. His third book, Stuck in Halftime: Reinvesting Your One and Only Life was released in 2001. Finishing Well, a compilation of more than sixty inspiring interviews threaded with Buford's own experiences, was released in 2004. Halftime was updated and released in 2008, along with Beyond Halftime, a collection of Bob's musings on what matters most in moving from gaining success to leaving a legacy.

In 1997, Bob founded Halftime, an organization to help successful people convert their experience and passions into action (www.halftime.org). Halftime's mission is to inspire and equip leaders to achieve maximum leverage and return on the investment of their resources, measured in changed lives and healthier communities.

Bob hosts The Halftime Institute, a 27 hour experience designed to help those who attend accelerate their transition from success to significance. For dates and to register, visit http://www.halftime.org/the-halftime-institute.

Bob is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and of the Owner Managed Program at the Harvard Business School. He has played active roles in Young Presidents' Organization and World Presidents' Organization and served on the board of the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Harvard. Buford was the 2000 recipient of The Samaritan Institute Award and the 2005 Christian Management Association Award. "Lead Like Jesus" presented Buford the Leadership Award in 2008 and Roaring Lambs Ministry honored him in 2009. He was the 2010 recipient of the J. Erik Jonsson Ethics Award from SMU Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility.

Bob and his wife, Linda, live in Dallas.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Don't be discouraged, November 2, 2004

By 

K. Dombrowski "KHD" (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Finishing Well: What People Who "Really Live" Do Differently (Hardcover)

I just attended a conference where the author was one of the speakers. Being in my late 40's, his message of how to go from success to significance hit home. I purchased Finishing Well and enjoyed the stories he featured of people making a difference in others lives by their service. However, I wish he had included examples of how ordinary people can live a life of significance without the extraordinary wealth, intelligence and fame that his examples seemed to have. Living a life of service to others can be on a small scale with a big impact, depending on your gifts, talents and resources. If you leave this earth and one person is better off because you were here, that is significant. The book left you feeling a bit inadequate, but an interesting read. Maybe better designed for wealthy people looking for a purpose.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars To Run The Good Race, and Finish Well., September 19, 2005

By 

Betty Burks "Betty Burks" (Knoxville, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Finishing Well: What People Who "Really Live" Do Differently (Hardcover)

This is a self-help book to help you determine how to make the world a better place for your having been here. First, you must make a plan and follow through. Here is a sample and suggestions for success.

Peter Drucker's principles for life include: 1) Find out who you are. 2)Reposition yourself for full effectiveness and fulfillment in life's second half. 3) Find your emotional core. 4) Make your life an endgame. 5) Planning doesn't work by itself. You must follow through. 6) You have to know your values. 7) You have to define what 'finishing well' means to you. 8) You have to know the difference between the difference between harvesting and planting. 9) Good intentions aren't enough. You have to define the results you're after. and 10) There's a downside to "no longer learning, no longer growing."

In this book, the reader will learn about giving and receiving a blessing, about the power of saying "no", about redefining what helps you to get up in the morning, about putting yourself at risk (for change), about finding the right fit, about staying the course, and most importantly finishing well. "If people see their best years behind them, they're probably not going to finish very welll, because you can't finish well when you're going backwards."

Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote in ULYSSES: "'Tis not too late to seek a newer world. Push off, and sitting well in order smite the sounding furrows; for my purpose hold to sail beyond the sunset, and the baths of all the western stars, until I die. It may be that the gulfs will wash us down; it may be we shall touch the Happy Isles, and see the great Achilles, whom we knew. ...That which we are, we are, one equal temper of heroic hearts, made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."

The author wrote HALFTIME, and praises Peter Drucker as being the leading wisdom figure in his life. "It has been lie a playwright having access to Shakespeare or a physician to Einstein." He says, "I love smart people." So do I! He ends with the interpretation of John 17:1-23 and encourages the reader to study it as needed.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Like a shooting star that fell short, January 16, 2006

By 

G. E. Kugler "Ed Kugler - nomoreBS - Author o... (Big Arm, Montana United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Finishing Well: What People Who "Really Live" Do Differently (Hardcover)

I started this with hope of having a great read about people out making a difference in life. I guess it is to an extent but its more of a pat my back I'll pat yours of big time exec's going about doing the great things once they retire and who knows if they do or just lend their names or sit on boards. I was hoping for some real life people who gave their lives to causes instead of the good ole boys club that this appears to me to be. Disappointed in the work.