Life-changing events come in all shapes and sizes and, most of the time, barge in unexpectedly or creep up on us. Most of us expect traumatic events (like divorce, health crises, or career derailments) to be traumatic. On the other hand, most of us still find it counter-intuitive to think that various forms of success (like career advancement, acclaim, or wealth) could have a disruptive or even traumatic impact on our lives.

While admittedly ironic, it is clearly the case that ending up with a big pile of money in our lap before the retirement years (or even after, in some instances) can create an existential crisis, unnerve us, and even replace our passion for work and for life with too many relentless, seemingly insoluble questions:

• "With all this money, I now have way too many options; where in heaven's name do I go from here? (In 99% of the cases, 'the golf course' is not the right answer.)"
• "I've 'arrived', but is this really all there is? I was expecting a deep sense of fulfillment, but..."
• "I've been building this company for what seems like forever. That's over with now, but what is The Next Big Thing for me?"
• "I'm seeing that I'm not yet the person I expected myself to be at this point in my life, but how in the world do I get there from here?"
• "For whatever reason I 'get it' now—I can see that life is truly finite and the clock is ticking away...so now what do I do?"

The very best time (both tactically and psychologically) to regroup, re-evaluate our life's roadmap, and even re-chart the journey is when life-changing events are looming or right upon us. The serendipitous events that befall us (both the good ones and the disturbing ones) are generally the forces that give shape and texture to our life by calling our hand and challenging us to respond—thereby, pushing us to break from the everyday patterns that have characterized our life to-date.

Some of these everyday patterns have to change, in order to rise to this very real challenge. Other patterns, though, will need to be preserved because they will continue to be the foundation of our personal and professional success. At moments like these, it is critical to be able to differentiate between the two.

In our work with business owners, executives, leaders, and their heirs, we typically find that a "substantial liquidity event" (SLE) brings about such a life-changing moment, demanding that we regroup by conducting a life inventory and refining or re-setting our focus, direction, and personal mission. To put it succinctly, a personal retreat is required to lay the groundwork for a life advance.

While the SLE seems to make the whole world your oyster, that's both the good news and the bad news, especially if you're as young as 40 or 50 years old and still have somewhere between 35 to 45 years remaining to be "invested" in this life. The large questions that will confront you generally include:

• "How am I going to add value to the world now?"
• "How am I going to continue to grow, not to mention lead?"
• "How am I going to remain motivated and passionate?"
• "How am I going to continue to live a disciplined, responsible, and accountable life?"

These are the key prerequisites for the good life (though note that net worth is not one). On the other hand, an SLE level of net worth can be a formidable seductress that can all too easily lead us astray in the opposite direction from these good-life prerequisites. Hence, it's been our long experience that a personal retreat is in order and is probably the best guarantee that your life will stay on track and that you and yours will continue to flourish.

We're not going to try and kid anybody here and claim that getting a successful (and now wealthy) business person or heir to take a step back in order to take some giant steps forward is part of the natural order of things! Our wealthy clients are almost always skeptical about committing to such a course (i.e., a personal "retreat", of all things)...until they begin to immerse themselves in our process. Then their perspective usually begins to shift.

Sitting down with an expert in Life Transition Solutions (LTS)—a person who is a seasoned advisor and facilitator and who genuinely cares about the quality of your future—is an eye-opening and energizing experience for our LTS candidates. After all, if you take a truly sober look at the good life prerequisites above, then you'll come to understand that you are going to need to do some crack-the-code kind of work on some extraordinarily demanding next-phase-of-your-life challenges, like:

• "How do I re-conceive my sense of purpose, meaning, and focus?"
• "What do I need to do to feel as though I'm making a capability-level contribution to the world?"
• "What do I do now to sustain and even extend my sense of mastery and achievement?"
• "How do I continue to be creative and innovative?"
• "How will my approach to recreation need to change?"
• "What's now required of me to ensure that I sustain and protect my sources of intimacy?"

To give you the upper hand, we use an array of techniques and tools that streamline and accelerate the renewal process, including:

• An in-depth Life Inventory
• A series of psychometric inventories
• (Re-)crafting your Vision/Mission/Core Values
• A Wish List Audit
• A Driving Forces Analysis: Seeing into the future
• Blueprints for Action
• Creating an LTS Roadmap and Life Plan

With these kinds of tools, you'll be able to lead yourself through this demanding transition process systematically and with some precision, by design and not by chance.

In our experience you, your significant others, and your "world" will be much the better for it.

We've got the best equipment and the best maps. Let us know when you're ready to set off on the expedition. We'll be ready when you are.