A football game often comes down to the fourth quarter. Even if the game is lopsided, a passionate team can win the day if they win the fourth quarter. Maybe you’ve seen Saturday or Sunday games, where players will hold up four fingers to the crowd to get them energized for the last fifteen minutes. It’s now or never, all or nothing. The fourth quarter is most important. The team is going to make every second count. If life were a football game, what quarter are you in? We might break it down this way:

• First Quarter—birth to age 19, a period of growth

• Second Quarter—Ages 20 – 39, a period of achievement

• Third Quarter—Ages 40 – 64, a period of becoming

• Fourth Quarter—Ages 65+, a period of harvest[1]

As a society, we place less and less value on a man’s contributions as he ages. We publish magazines touting the top “30 Under 30”. We tout phenoms like Einstein, who came up with his theory of relativity in his 20s. Alexander Graham Bell invented the phone at 29. Mozart composed symphonies in his teens.[2] In today’s world we might look at Evan Spiegel, founder of Snapchat, who became a billionaire at age 25. Or Elon Musk, who sold his first software code and embarked on his entrepreneurial journey at age 12.[3]

This might lead us to conclude—and we often do—that we must make our mark early in life. We may assume our later years are an age of lesser influence, fewer responsibilities and diminished importance. We label it the “period of harvest” and conclude that our Fourth Quarter is about enjoying the fruits of our labor and life. Some leaders slow down, live off savings, spend time with family, golf more. But is that how we should spend the fourth quarter? Consider that your leadership may flourish in your life’s fourth quarter like never before.

The best time to be in the game. A 65-year-old leader will never have more experience than he has in his fourth quarter. He will have more knowledge than he has ever had. He will have seen more successes and more failures, experienced more events, and as a result will have more answers. He has built lifelong relationships. He has more wisdom, and a greater opportunity to share it with others than he has ever had. In 2008, the Journal of Psychological Science in the Public Interest charted how well our brains work at various ages. They found that brain function for most adults peaked in their 50s. But interestingly, it also found that most adults have excellent brain capacity well into their 80s.

A man in his fourth quarter may assume it is time for him to leave the playing field of life and watch from the sidelines. Our culture emphasizes working hard through three quarters of life, so that we can set aside the fourth for our own pleasure. But at this phase in the game of life, a man’s day-to-day responsibilities to work and home may be less of a burden to his time, freeing him up to invest in the people around him. The fourth quarter is opportune for selfless living. Consider three ways you might use the fourth quarter of your life to impact the lives of others meaningfully:

A man can give his full attention. A young leader thinking about home, business, marriage, family, community—his thoughts are stretched in a dozen directions at once. But what happens when the kids are grown and out of the house, and the business has run well for a number of years, and the bank accounts have growing savings? A man in the fourth-quarter likely has a little more free time than he did 20 years ago. It’s time he can use to give people his full and undivided attention.

Undivided attention is a special gift you can give to those around you. A man in his fourth quarter, with fewer distractions, can concentrate in a manner that shows genuine interest and concern. This is rare in our electronic-obsessed culture, and those to whom you give attention will often open up and share their concerns and challenges. This then results in further opportunities to listen, to learn, and to speak wisdom into life and work.[4] As parents, we spend more than 90% of the total time we have with our children from birth through age 18. A parent may have 30-40 additional years with their adult children—but they’ll only spend the remaining 10% of their total time with them.[5] You might receive 40-60 days of time with your adult children, in total, for the remainder of their lives.

The lesson here is that the time we spend in the company of our loved ones is precious. We often do not realize it until most of it has been spent. When they’re young we wisk them from school to sports to church to birthday parties, all the while engaged on our phone screens or some other distraction. In your fourth quarter, consider that the uninterrupted time you have available is a tremendously valuable commodity. It can and should be spent on your most important relationships. Any relationship you invest in during this period of your life will result in a blessing to the one who receives the attention.

A man can be kind the second time. Like a football team, we tend to focus on the relationships in life that are adjacent to us at our point in the game. When we have small kids, we hang out with others who have small kids. When we have teenagers, we’re with others who have teens, and so forth. The result is that we often ignore those who are not in our immediate “circle” at various points in our lives. You’ve likely experienced this—like the father who doesn’t respond to your hello as he’s focused on getting the kids to baseball practice, or the man who won’t stop for a conversation in the lobby as he’s meeting a client for lunch. We can be unkind to others because in the moment they’re not important.

Kindness is a tremendous resource, because it softens the world and makes it happier for everyone. Kindness makes others feel important and valued. Kindness is a skill you can practice in your fourth quarter. It will enhance your impact on the lives of those around you. Take time to stop and greet anyone you recognize. Ask them about their lives and families. Give heartfelt attention to their concerns. Recall memories and experiences you might have shared together through the years. The former coworker, the college friend, the neighbor, the couple from church—all present opportunities for demonstrating kindness. Don’t become the elderly hermit, preoccupied with his own pursuits. Be the leader who uses his fourth quarter to bestow kindness on everyone around him.

A man can say the things that really matter. A man in his fourth quarter sometimes can’t enjoy it because he is dealing with three quarters of regret. In our later years we can be filled with remorse for the things we didn’t do, and the things we left unsaid. Perhaps the most important things a man can say in his fourth quarter are the things he has saved up through life. He can share what he has learned with younger men so that they may avoid some of his pitfalls and take advantage of some of his knowledge.

In ancient Israel, elderly men sometimes were referred to as zaken. This was a highly respected title, indicating the man was known for his knowledge and guidance. He would often play a crucial role in making decisions, or settling disputes.[6] As a sign of respect, people would rise in his presence. The qualifications for this role are found in 1 Timothy 3:1-7: “Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect.”

Not every older man was a zaken. He had to possess a measure of wisdom, as well as the temperament to see his role as a noble task. He must also possess enough humility to admit where he failed, in order to see another succeed in that area. “When I was your age, I thought this thing was so important… but later I learned it wasn’t. It’s too late for me, but not for you!” Older leaders are filled with a list of things they wish they had said. In your fourth quarter, take time to say what really matters. Say these words with humility, and an earnest desire to help others avoid pitfalls, grow personally, and go further in life and leadership than you did.

The clock is ticking. A man in the fourth-quarter is aware of something that younger men seldom think about—his time is limited. Even a 65-year-old in excellent health will know that his years of vibrant activity can likely be counted on two hands. Do not waste time in life on things that won’t matter when it’s done. In football the clock will count down to zero, and the players will leave the field, the outcome determined. In the game there is a finite amount of time. The only difference in life is that we do not know precisely when that fourth quarter will end. But we do know that the clock is ticking.

This biggest mistake a leader in the fourth quarter can make is to choose not to play. In doing so he robs himself of the opportunity to do things he could not do earlier in life. And he may also rob those in his sphere of influence of the very best in leadership, wisdom and counsel, decision-making, kindness and character that he possesses. Don’t retire—instead, inspire! Let your fourth quarter be one for the record books!

[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/avivahwittenbergcox/2021/11/10/lifes-4-quarters--and-how-the-map-shapes-the-road

[2] https://www.fastcompany.com/3058870/these-are-the-ages-when-we-do-our-best-work

[3] https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/10-billionaires-who-amassed-their-wealth-after-age-40

[4] https://www.gravitygroup.com/blog/your-undivided-attention-five-steps-to-active-listening/

[5] https://www.goaro.com/blog/attention-parents-you-have-less-time-with-your-kids-than-you-realize

[6] https://hebrewnamer.com/names/zaken/

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