The Drive to Compete

At the age of 70, many people might be content to sit back and enjoy their Golden Years in leisure. But for Primerica veteran, Brud Hall, of Des Plaines, IL, “old” age is anything but! “As I’ve gotten older, I’ve seen a lot of my peers choose golf or tennis to stay active,” says Brud. “If you’re competitive, however, you have to find something a little more challenging to keep yourself engaged.”

Brud turned to the highly skilled National Senior Games Association (NSGA) to fuel his competitive nature – and he says the gold medals he’s won continue to add fuel to the fire. “Like the Olympics, you can compete in almost every sport – track and field, golf, cycling, archery, etc.,” Brud explains. “There are qualifier meets at the state level and from there, medalists advance to the national games. You’re competing against athletes age 50 and up, and it’s a real motivator to see some of these people playing at a high level in their 80s and 90s! I really believe that competition keeps you young because the training that goes into it and the drive to be the best pushes you to do things you may not have accomplished without it.”

Brud and his wife, Debbie, are no strangers to competition. Thirty‑five years ago, the pair became entrepreneurs with A.L. Williams (now Primerica), providing the financial solutions the families they serve need in order to reach their goals. “There are a lot of parallels between sports and Primerica,” smiles Brud. “The biggest one is the competition. People ask me when I’m going to retire. I just say, ‘Look at all the leaders in this company who went out with their boots on!’ Those men and women were fighting to be the best to the end. Competition allowed them to get up every day and live for something. The great ones stay in it to win it. For me, retiring would mean giving up on life. I love this, I can’t leave it!”

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