No matter where you are in your career, The Trade offers a proven framework to elevate your life and unlock your true potential. The Trade is a compelling playbook, offering insights and practical guidance to help professionals embrace transformative change. Endorsed by General Stanly McChrystal, this is a powerful resource for anyone at the top of their career, feeling frustrated, isolated, and questioning their true purpose.
In 2022, Lon defied conventional wisdom, leaving his prestigious C-suite job on a hunch that life demanded more from him. Without a resume, business plan, or vast wealth, he shed the big office, title, and image, embarking on a journey to unlock his life's potential. Unexpectedly, when he resigned, his inbox overflowed with messages from high-achievers from across the world, people he had never met, seeking the same path but lacking guidance.
Lon's pursuit led him to conduct thousands of one-on-one interviews with individuals navigating their most critical life transitions. These conversations and the tough decisions we all encounter fueled his drive to write this book. It's a testament to challenging the status quo and embracing transformative change. It’s a book about living your second-half story, and what you'll have to trade to live it.
There is a growing tension between who you have become and who you are capable of being next. One voice may urge you to stay safe, while the other implores you to take a leap of faith and explore uncharted territories. The Trade dares you to live your second-half story without regrets. This book challenges you to break free from your status quo, remove self-imposed limitations, and embark on a journey of self-discovery.
Lon has named this feeling 'Normal 40.’ And he has since built a movement dedicated to giving a home to those who are quietly wrestling with a career or military transition. What he thought was a feeling only he was having, he has discovered thousands more who are living their own Normal 40 Moment.
The Trade is a playbook for how to help professionals work their own Normal 40 Moment. The Trade will help you to understand that you are not alone, and that this feeling in your gut, when understood, is a gift.
Every life culminates in a final day, surrounded by loved ones. In those last moments, you'll reflect on the legacy you'll leave and the life you've lived. The Trade prompts you to weigh the risks you've taken and embrace the two prevailing thoughts: "I am glad I did it" or "I wish I would have tried." This book inspires you to seize every moment and make choices that align with your truest self. The Trade will ensure you are glad you did it.
Lon’s mission is to inspire change in a thousand lives. And he will know he has been successful when he has a thousand notes of thanks from people whom the change has impacted.
“THE TRADE IS ENTERTAINING, UPLIFTING WISDOM. THIS IS NOT A BOOK FOR OTHER PEOPLE; IT’S FOR YOU... THE TRADE IS A MUST-READ FOR ANYONE FACING TRANSITION.”
--Stan McChrystal, General, US Army (Retired) CEO & Founder, McChrystal Group Author of Team of Teams, Leaders: Myth and Reality, and Risk
“WOW! THE TRADE IS FOR ANYONE WITH THAT GNAWING FEELING INSIDE THAT MANY OF US FEEL. THAT, ‘WHAT AM I DOING? IS THIS ALL THERE IS? AM I SETTLING; BECAUSE IT’S EASY?’ FEELING.”
Dr. Larry Volz, General/Trauma Surgeon
“IF YOU ARE IN A PLACE IN YOUR LIFE AND CAREER WHERE YOU ARE WONDERING, ‘SHOULDN’T I FEEL BETTER ABOUT WHAT I’M DOING WITH MY LIFE’ AND THEN FEELING GUILTY FOR CONSIDERING CHANGES THAT YOU THINK WOULD TAKE AWAY FROM WHAT YOU’VE PROMISED YOUR FAMILY YOU WOULD PROVIDE, YOU NEED THIS BOOK. BUT BE WARNED; THERE ARE GUT PUNCHES AHEAD – GUT PUNCHES YOU’LL REALIZE YOU NEEDED
AND WILL BE GLAD TO HAVE TAKEN... DO YOURSELF A FAVOR; READ THIS BOOK. IT HAS CHANGED MY LIFE.”
Wendy Woodard, Colonel, USAF (Retired), META/Facebook Aviation
