From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life

Here’s the basic idea –

When we’re young, we have what’s called “fluid intelligence.” We’re energetic, creative, and not weighed down by old thinking and prejudices.

But, as we get older, our thinking moves to “crystallized intelligence.” Basically, we get wise. At this point, we have wisdom – lots of “old thinking,” but also the experience to put it context.

When we’re young, our way of thinking is our strength. And when we’re older, our way of thinking is our strength. Ideally, we recognize that both of those strengths matter, for different reasons.

The problem is, some people don’t transition. They continue to perform the second half of their lives and careers with the same way of thinking that they had earlier, and it doesn’t work. The author documents dozens of people who never made the jump from one strength to another.

The author statistically demonstrates that different careers peak in different ways, and we need to evolve with our way of thinking. In our later years, we should modify our careers and goals to match our strengths. Some people don’t – they try to recreate past glories – and they spend the second half of their lives continually frustrated that they’re not young anymore.

IT’s a great thought, and really timely for me. I’m very much on the downward curve of the first strength, and I need to modify my career for the second curve.

The book gets a little spiritual and preachy at the end. It’s not advertised as a spiritual book, so that part kind of comes out of nowhere – I could see some secular readers getting annoyed with it. He also loses focus at the end. The book segues into more of a general self-help title, which I wasn’t ready for.

But, still – a great thought that really fits my life at the moment. The book came at just the right time for me.