The ‘Why’ Behind Retire Southern and Southern Character
From L to R: Andrea Rizk, Jerry Payne, Daron Roberts, James Lewis, Mallory Boggs, and Lauren Noble
On October 23rd, we celebrated the official launch of Retire Southern at Manuel’s Tavern in Atlanta, Georgia with a live audience recording of the Southern Character podcast featuring Daron K. Roberts. On its face, the evening represented the achievement of a bawdy aspirational macrowin¹ that resulted from an avalanche of Microwins set into motion 174 days prior. But the genesis of Retire Southern goes back much further than that. Here is the rest of the story.
“He who has a Why to live for can bear almost any How.” (Friedrich Nietzsche)
This quote is referenced several times throughout Viktor Frankl’s book, Man’s Search for Meaning.² Frankl was an Austrian psychologist, and Holocaust survivor, who is credited for founding the school of Viennese Psychotherapy known as logotherapy which promulgates that the search for meaning is our central motivational force as opposed to the pursuit of pleasure or power.
I serendipitously discovered Frankl’s book years ago while listening to the mental wellness program, Trident Mindset.³ They paraphrase Frankl’s teachings in their Intentionality lesson as follows, “a person with a purpose can conquer any how.” That is when all of the dots started connecting for me which eventually led to the founding of Retire Southern which ultimately manifested from the three things that genuinely light me up:
Discovering authentic experiences.
Making meaningful connections.
Sharing these experiences and connections with those also seeking purpose and perspective.
My Background
I have spent my entire life in the South; the first 25 years in Louisiana, and the second 25 in Georgia. This 50-year span includes a Mardi Gras childhood in New Orleans, two high school state championships, an extended undergraduate stint at Louisiana State University, an almost famous cover band, relocating to Atlanta for my first real job, grad school at night, a career change, a divorce, and a second marriage blending six children and two boxers that my wife Amanda and I refer to as Team Chaos.
Also, in that time frame I traveled throughout the South, along the Gulf of Mexico, up the Atlantic coast, back down the Blue Ridge Mountains and everywhere in between seeking out authentic experiences and meaningful connections.
I have stumbled and endured more self-doubt guided detours than I can count. I have witnessed family members, friends, and clients do the same. But through it all, I have leaned on my accumulated experiences and connections to help myself, and the people I care about, recover from our self-induced tailspins and get back on track.
My Purpose (Why)
There are two motivational forces that drive me. The first is simply who I am at my core. Imagine if Jimmy Buffet and Anthony Bourdain gave birth to a 6’-4” son and named him James and you start to get a sense of my persona. To go a level deeper, I am a dominant Type 2 personality on the Enneagram, also known as, “The Helper.” Helping people is my passion. My second motivational force is the memory of my younger sister Jennie who passed in 2012 a few months shy of her 35th birthday. Although she left us 12 years ago, I still vividly remember her final days which we shared together in New Orleans. Losing Jennie gave me a powerful perspective that I now realize was an awakening.
An equally important perspective I’ve picked up on my journey is to believe in myself. To follow my compass. This has been consistently reinforced not only by Jennie, but every other character who has positively imprinted on me. The common denominator shared by these characters is their mindset. They “wage war against the status quo.”⁴ They have amazing superhero-like stories that inspire and enable those they encounter to follow their compass.
The collective message is clear in hindsight. Life is short. Time is truly our greatest asset. And we should be wholly purpose-driven with regard to how, where, and with whom we spend our time.
That is the bedrock of Retire Southern and Southern Character.
How to Use Retire Southern & Southern Character
Here is how I summarize it:
Don’t wait for retirement to live with intention. Start practicing presence and awareness today for a purposeful retirement—whenever it may come.
Use the travel, lifestyle and wellness content on Retire Southern to take a deep dive into the authentic South and connect with your most authentic Self.
And when life knocks you off course, listen to the true-life stories of grit and grace on the Southern Character podcast and acknowledge that you may be down, but you are certainly not out.
That is the vision for Retire Southern. To help our community of like-minded Southern Characters live with purpose, follow your compass, and retire like you mean it.
Dedicated to Jennifer Helen Lewis, a true Southern Character. October 28, 1977 – June 24, 2012
References
Roberts, Daron K. Microwins. 1st ed. Hoboken: Wiley; 2024. 69 p.
Frankl, Victor E. (Author), Kushner, Harold S. (Foreword), Winslade, William J. (Afterword). Man’s Search for Meaning. 1st ed. Boston: Beacon Press; 2006. IX p.
Trident Mindset. http://tridentmindset.com
Roberts, Daron K. Microwins. 1st ed. Hoboken: Wiley; 2024. 31 p.