I built the career. I carried the responsibility.
Then I had to rethink what success meant.
I’m a midlife coach, author and former CEO. I help people in their 40s and 50s redesign success when the version that got them here no longer fits the life they want next.
Not by blowing everything up or starting again, but by reconnecting with what matters and making practical Microshifts towards a life that feels more aligned, purposeful and fully their own.
From the outside, it looked like success.
On the inside, something was changing.
For more than two decades, I built a successful career in business.
I held senior leadership roles in Australia and Asia, including Head of Chocolate for Southeast Asia at Mondelez International. Later, I spent five years as CEO of Stone & Wood, leading a business and brand I deeply respected.
I had worked hard for those opportunities. I was proud of what I had achieved, the teams I had led and the life my career helped create for my family.
But there were signs that the picture of success I was living no longer fitted who I was becoming.
In Malaysia, after years of travel, pressure and navigating the expectations of a demanding senior role, I unexpectedly found myself in tears during a meeting with my managing director. I wasn’t incapable of handling difficult feedback. I was exhausted, disconnected and carrying more than I had allowed myself to acknowledge.
Years later, even in what looked like my dream CEO role, some of the same patterns followed me. I absorbed pressure from every direction, carried responsibility for everyone around me and became increasingly disconnected from what I needed.
From the outside, my life still looked successful. On the inside, it was becoming harder to sustain.
Leaving wasn’t one brave leap. It was a series of honest decisions.
Eventually, I had to stop asking how I could keep carrying the life I had built and start asking whether it still fitted.
I took time away on my own and began writing down what needed to be true - for my family, my finances and the business - before I could leave my CEO role responsibly.
By late 2020, those conditions were in place.
To some people, walking away from what appeared to be a dream job looked like a dramatic decision. To me, it felt like relief.
But that wasn’t the moment everything magically fell into place.
The years that followed included coaching, advisory work, investments, new roles, experiments, mistakes and a few U-turns. Some choices moved me closer to the life I wanted. Others showed me, sometimes painfully, what still didn’t fit.
There was no perfect reinvention. There were simply a series of Microshifts - small, deliberate changes that gradually helped me understand who I was, what mattered and how I wanted to work and live.
That experience is why I don’t tell people to quit tomorrow, abandon their responsibilities or chase an idealised new life.
I help them step back, see clearly and build what comes next with intention.
Success has a used by date.
Not because the life you built was wrong.
It was shaped by who you were, what mattered then and the responsibilities you carried at the time. It may have served you well for many years.
But people evolve. Priorities change. Children grow up. Careers shift. Health, relationships and time take on new meaning.
The picture of success that once inspired you may not fit the person you are today - or the life you want next.
When that happens, the answer isn’t necessarily to push harder in the old direction. And it isn’t always to tear everything down and start again.
The work is to redesign success around what matters now.
A good life isn't found. It's shaped deliberately.
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Meaning
Meaning starts with understanding what matters most.
For many years, we are encouraged to build life from the outside in - through roles, achievements, expectations and visible measures of progress. But lasting meaning is built from the inside out.
It begins with knowing what you value, what gives you energy and what makes your life feel worthwhile.
Success
Success is not a permanent destination.
As you evolve, your definition of success needs to evolve with you. What represented success in your 20s or 30s may feel incomplete in your 40s and 50s.
Redesigning success means creating a picture that reflects the person you are now and the life you want to build next.
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Happiness
Happiness isn’t a constant emotional high or the reward waiting at the end of another achievement.
It grows when the important parts of your life - health and wellbeing, relationships, career and wealth - begin pulling in the same direction.
The goal isn’t a perfect life. It is a life that feels aligned, intentional and genuinely your own.
You don't need to turn your life upside down to change your life.
We often assume meaningful change requires one dramatic decision.
My experience tells me something different.
Lasting change is usually built through small, deliberate actions that create clarity, confidence and momentum over time.
These small compounding actions are mot impactful when they are anchored in simple shifts in our orientations and perspectives in life. I call these shifts and actions microshifts.
 A microshift may be when you shift the dial from being led intrinsically instread of by exrinsic noise. Or the shift from being a passenger in your life choices to being in the drivers seat.Â
It could also be one of those small actions that remove pressure or build momentum, such as a having conversation you have been avoiding, a boundary that protects your energy, a new way of defining your role, a change to how you use your time or a decision to stop carrying something that is no longer yours.
One shift rarely changes everything. But each one helps you move away from an outdated playbook and towards a life that fits.
This philosophy sits behind my writing, The Life Playbook and my one-to-one coaching.
I understand the business world and the pressure of carrying a version of success that no linger fits.
My work is informed by more than two decades in senior leadership, my experience of navigating midlife change and the people I now support through their own transitions.
My career has included:
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Senior marketing, commercial and operational leadership roles in Australia and Asia across Carlton & United Breweries, Mondelez International and Stone & Wood Breweing Co.
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Five years as CEO of Stone & Wood
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Leadership through growth, organisational change and the disruption of COVID
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Non-Executive Director and advisory roles across growing businesses
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Coaching leaders, founders, business owners and professionals navigating questions of success, identity and what comes next
I know what it means to carry responsibility for performance, people, finances and family.
I also know that a life can look successful while quietly becoming misaligned.
That combination allows me to bring strategic discipline and human understanding to this work - helping people move beyond reflection and make grounded decisions that fit the reality of their lives.
I’m not standing at the end of the road telling you how I mastered midlife.
I’m in my 50s, a husband and father of three, living on the Gold Coast.
Like the people I work with, I’m still navigating changing priorities, family, health, work, money and questions about how I want to use the years ahead.
I still get things wrong. I still notice old patterns returning. And I still have to make conscious choices about what deserves my time and energy.
The difference is that I now have a clearer way to recognise when something is out of alignment - and a practical process for deciding what to do next.
That is what I share through my writing, courses and coaching.
One insight. One play. One microshift. A little optimism for the week ahead.
A short, thoughtful note from Ben about life, midlife and what it takes to shape a next chapter that feels more meaningful and fully your own.
Each edition includes an original insight, a practical idea from the Life Playbook, one small microshift to try and a closing dose of optimism.
No noise or empty motivation. Just useful ideas to help you step back, see differently and move forward with intention.
 Book news and occasional updates from Ben are included. Unsubscribe at any time.
The life you want next begins with seeing where you are now.
Start with the book, explore The Life Playbook or work with me one-to-one to redesign success and build what comes next.
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