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From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life Hardcover – February 15, 2022

by Arthur C. Brooks (Author)

4.2 out of 5 stars

268 ratings

#1 New Release in Job Hunting & Career Guides

• INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
  The path to finding meaning to live, meaning, and happiness as we get older, by the best-selling authors, Harvard professor, and the New York Times' happiness columnist Arthur Brooks.
  
  We all believe that the more accomplished we have more vulnerable to the feeling of social and professional naivety that is often the case with the aging process. However the more impressive our accomplishments and our awe for their achievements the less often we observe our declining and the more difficult the experience is when it happens.
  
  Can we take action beginning now, to ensure our later years a period filled with joy, purpose and yes, even, success?
  
  In the midst of his career, at the old age of fifty, Arthur Brooks embarked on seven years of research to figure out the best way to turn his life from one of denial about his weakening skills to an opportunity to make progress. from Strength to Strength is the outcome of his efforts, a guideline to follow for the remainder of the time.
  
  Utilizing the fields of philosophy, social science as well as biography, theology and Eastern wisdom, and hundreds of interviews with ordinary females and males, Brooks shows us that the ultimate success in life is at hand. By focusing on the right essentials and behaviors that anyone could learn, like profound wisdom, a distance from a lack of rewards connections and giving back to other people, and spiritual growth and growth, we are able to create a path for greater happiness.
  
  Take a look at this book and you too will increase your strength.

Your
Professional
Decline Is Coming (Much) Sooner
Than You Think
What are the five most influential scientists to are alive today? This is the sort of question that people discuss on the web that you do not visit. I'm not planning to lead you there. However, no regardless of how much or little you are aware of science, your bucket list will surely include Charles Darwin. Today, he is remembered as a man who revolutionized the way we think about biology forever and completely. His influence was so profound that his popularity has not diminished after his death in 1882.
Yet Darwin died despite having considered his life to be a failure.
Let's get back to basics. Darwin's parents encouraged him to become a priest but for a job that he did not have much passion or talent. Therefore, he was a mediocre student. He was a scientist by passion and brought him joy and alive. It was an opportunity of a lifetime for him-"by it's the most important moment in my life" he later referred to it as-when in 1831, at the age of 22 he was asked to be a part of the expedition that was The Beagle, a scientific sailing expedition across the globe. Over the next five years on the vessel He took exotic animal and plant samples, and then returned into England to the awe of scientists as well as the general public.
It was enough that he became famous. When he returned to the United States at the age of 27 the scientist ignited an intellectual fire with his concept of natural selection. It is believed that as time passes species evolve and change and give us the diversity of animals and plants we encounter after million of years. Over the next 30 years, he formulated his theory and then published it in essays and books His reputation grew gradually. In 1859, when he was fifty, he wrote his masterpiece and ultimate accomplishment, On the Origin of Species which was a best-selling book that explained his evolutionary theory that transformed him famous and revolutionized science for the better.
In the end, however Darwin's research slowed and he reached a plateau in his studies and was unable to make any new breakthroughs. In the same period an Czech monk called or Gregor Mendel discovered what Darwin required to continue his research in genetics: the theory of genetics. Unfortunately, his work was published in a shady German journal for academics, and Darwin didn't even know about it. In the end, Darwin (who, remember was an indifferent student) didn't have the language or math abilities to comprehend the theory. Even though he published numerous books later on and afterward, his work was not groundbreaking.
In his final days, Darwin was still very well-known, and after his death, he was buried in the role of a hero for all time at Westminster Abbey. However, he became increasingly unhappy with his situation and his work, judging it as insufficient, disappointing, and not original. "I have not the heart or strength at my age to begin any investigations lasting years, which is the only thing which I enjoy," Darwin confessed to a colleague. "I have everything to make me happy and contented, but life has become very wearisome to me."
Darwin was successful according to world's standardsbut was ruined in his personal way. He was aware that, by the world's standards, he had everything that would bring the world "happy and contented" but admitted that his fame and fortune was as if eating straw. Only the growth of his career and new accomplishments like those he had enjoyed during his previous work would make him feel better, but that was beyond the capabilities of his current position. Thus, he was condemned to a life of misery in the midst of his decline. His melancholy was not a thing of the past according to all reports until his death at the age of seventy-three.
I'd like to inform you that Darwin's decline and discontent at the end of his life were similar to his achievements However, that's not the case. Actually, the decline of Darwin was perfectly normal, and exactly on time. If you, too, as Darwin are a hard-working individual who has worked to excel in your work then you're likely to encounter the same pattern of disappointment and decline-and it will happen much, earlier than you imagine.
The surprise ear of decline
If you don't follow your own James Dean formula-"Live fast, live long, and leave behind an attractive corpse"-you are aware that your physical, professional or mental decline are inevitable. It's likely that you think it's a long long way away.
It's not just you who think this. The assumption of aging, and the effects on professional performance is something that will occur into the future. This mindset is at the root of all sorts of hilarious research results. For instance the 2009 survey asked what "being old" means, the most popular response from Americans was "turning eighty-five." This means that on average, an American (who lives until seventy-nine) is dead six years before turning old.
This is the truth: In virtually every profession that requires high-skills the decline begins sometime between the late thirties and the early fifty. I'm sorry, this is a bit painful. It gets even worse: the more successful one is at the top of their career The more obvious the loss appears once it's begun to take hold.
Naturally, you're not going to trust me on this So let's take an honest take a look.
The first step is the evident, and the earliest declinein athletes. Sports that require high speed or power see their peak performance from 20 to 27 years old as opposed to those who engage in endurance sports are a bit later but are still young adults. It's not surprising that no one expects an athlete who is serious to stay in the game until they reach age sixty. The majority players I spoke to in this book (there isn't a survey that asks what age people anticipate experiencing declining physical performance, which is why I began to ask questions informally) thought they'd have to discover a new field of work when they reached the age of thirty. They may not like this fact however, they have to face it.
This is a very different tale in the present-day world of "knowledge workers"-most people who read this book, I'd bet. For those who work in fields that require thoughts and intelligence, not athletic skills and significant physical strength, nearly everyone isn't expecting to see to lose their strength before they reach 70; Some even later. In contrast to athletes they're not facing the reality.
Scientists are the best. Benjamin Jones, a professor of entrepreneurship and strategy within Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, has spent many years researching the age at which people tend to make important scientific discoveries that are prize-winning and lead to inventions. Examining the major inventions as well as Nobel winners that span over a century, Jones concludes that the average age of discovery for great discoveries is in the late 30s. He demonstrates that the chance of making a significant discovery rises gradually through the twenties and thirties , but then drops significantly in one's forties, fifties and the sixties. There are exceptions however. However, the chance of creating an important breakthrough at seventy-eight is about the same as the chance at twenty-nearly zero.
The fact that it was a fact surely inspired Paul Dirac, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist an elegiac poem about the fact that age is a scientist's curse. The poem concludes with two phrases:
He's better off dead than living
at the time he has reached his thirty-year mark.
Dirac received the award when he was just thirty-one years old for his work during his mid-twenties. When he turned thirty the scientist had created an overall theory of quantum fields which was the field where he earned the PhD in Cambridge (at the age of twenty-four). When he was twenty-eight, he wrote The Principles of Quantum Mechanics the textbook that is that is still used today. When he turned thirty, he was an adjunct instructor at Cambridge. After that? He was a scholarly scholar and also made some breakthroughs. However, it wasn't as early as. Thus his poem.
Of of course, Nobel winners might be distinct from ordinary scientists. Jones and co-authors, dug into the information on scientists in chemistry, physics, and medicine with high-quality work that was cited in addition to patents and awards. They discovered that peak performance occurs at a later age than they did in the past, mostly due to the expertise required for cutting-edge research has grown exponentially throughout the years. However, as of 1985, the maximum age isn't old for physicists - fifty; for chemical engineers, forty-six, and for medicine forty-five. Then, the rate of innovation decreases rapidly.
Other fields of knowledge have the same basic structure. For writers, the decline set between 40 and fifty-five. Financial professionals peak in performance between 36 and 40. Doctors, for instance: they are most effective at the age of thirty-six, and have dramatic declines in skills as they age. It's nice to find a doctor who has a similarity to people my age to Marcus Welby, MD. However, a recent Canadian study looked at the medical practices of 80 percent of anesthesiologists in the United States and the patient lawsuits against them over a 10-year time period. Researchers found that doctors who are over sixty-five years old are 50 percent more likely than doctors younger (under fifty-one) to be held guilty of medical malpractice.
Entrepreneurs are a fascinating case when they reach their peak age. Tech entrepreneurs often enjoy huge fortune and fame during their 20s however, many of them are in decline as creative at the age of thirty. In the Harvard Business Review has reported that the founders of companies funded by at least $1 billion with venture capital usually fall between the twenty-to-thirty-four age bracket. The percentage of founders who are who are older, the authors observed is very extremely low. Some scholars disagree with this conclusion by claiming that the average age of founders in the most successful start-ups is in reality, forty-five. The fact is the same: at middle age, the ability to be entrepreneurial has been declining. According to those with the highest expectations, just five percent founders over sixty.
The trend isn't just exclusive to the knowledge-based field the noticeable decline in aging occurs sooner than many people believe for skilled positions ranging from police to nursing. The best performance ranges from 30 to forty-four years old for engineers of equipment and service and office workers. It is 40-55-54 for semi-skilled assembly or mail sorters. The decline in the age of air traffic controllers is so severe-and the consequences of mistakes caused by decline are so severe that the required retirement age is 56.
The rate of decline can be predicted so well that a scholar has created an astonishingly precise model to predict it in particular occupations. Dean Keith Simonton from the University of California, Davis was able to study the pattern of decline in the professional world for those who work in the creative field and created an estimate of the typical shape of a person's professional career. By adjusting curves to gigabytes of information, he produced an image of a graph similar to the figure 1.
The average top of the creative career occurs around 20 years after starting a career This is the reason why the average person begins to fall between the ages of thirty and fifty. This averages across a wide range of fields Simonton and Simonton discovered a lot of variance. For instance, he's studied how to calculate the "half-life" of many professions-the time at which the majority of the work is completed. This would roughly be in line, on average, to the top of the graph. One group that closely follows the 20-year half-life of novelists is who typically complete half of their work prior to and the other half after 20.4 years after the start in their careers as writers. Close to this are mathematicians who have half-lifes that is 21.7 years. The poets are a bit earlier who have reached their half-life at 15.4 years. Geologists are a bit later with a lifespan of 28.9 years.
Let's consider what this means for a minute. Let's say you're in a quantitative area- you are an analyst of data, for instance. If you graduate from college and begin your career at 22 years old, you'll in the average, reach your career peak around forty-four, and then begin to lose your expertise. Imagine you're freshly graduated from a poetry program and have master's in fine arts at twenty-five. Simonton's statistics show that you'll burn through your entire life's work until the age of forty. You will experience a decline in productivity at the time of. However when you're geologist, your highest point is likely to be close to the age of fifty-four.
My experience is that the first decline in my life is a personal matter.
When I began my research I was keen to find out if the decline patterns could be applied to classical musicians. There are many notable instances that classical performers continue and on, playing to the end of their lives. The year 1945 saw double bassist Jane Little joined the Atlanta Symphony at the age of 16. She retired seventy-one more years later when she was 87. (Well she didn't retire, she actually passed away in a stage performance while singing "There's No Business Like Show Business.")
Mrs. Little is not the typical, but the majority are retired much earlier. In fact, it is way too late. According to surveys classical musicians say that their peak performance is when one is in his thirties. Younger players are often annoyed by the top spots that are occupied by those who are older and have tenure-based orchestras. with tenure, much like universities. They remain in the same spot long after having been beaten down. But the issue is that older players are often unable to admit that they've lost their edge even to themselves. "It's very hard to admit that it's time," said a fifty-eight year-old French trumpeter of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. "We're expert at denial. We have been successful because we refuse to accept the overwhelming odds at making it in our profession, so early in our development denial is a positive."
That French trumpet player wasn't my. It could be in a parallel world.
When I was a kid I had only one goal that was to be the best French trumpet player. I would practice my horn for hours for hours and hours every day, in every band I could find. I kept pictures of famous players hanging on my bedroom walls to inspire me. I attended all the most prestigious music festivals and worked with the most renowned teachers for children in lower-middle-class schools in Seattle. It was my turn to be the top player, and the first to sit in the chair.
At times I pondered whether my life's ambitions could come true. When I was 19 years old, I quit college to begin as a professional musician in the touring chamber-music group. We played a hundred shows every year, and traveled across the country in an enormous van. I did not have health insurance, and the rent days were always a bit stressful at the age of twenty-one , I had been to every state in the fifty states as well as fifteen countries around the world and recorded albums that I'd occasionally listen to at the radio. My goal was to climb to the top of the classical music ranks as I entered my twenties, to join an orchestra of the highest quality in the next few years and then be a soloist. It's the highest position that one can get as a classical musician.
However, when I was in my early twenties a peculiar phenomenon occurred: I began becoming worse. Today I don't know what caused it. My technique started to deteriorate and I could not find an reason to explain it. There was nothing that helped. I saw famous teachers and continued to practice but couldn't return to the level I was. Pieces that were simple to play changed into difficult pieces that were difficult were difficult to play.

Todd

5.0 out of 5 stars

Articulate, well written book that resonated with me

Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2022

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A great quick read that was easy to relate to and easy to grasp the concepts. We all do slow down with age and it's important to understand that and consider refocusing our lives based on that. I thought the focus on relationships and self and spirituality not necessarily new, but what was new is how this applies to workaholics and what steps they can take to get to a better state of purpose and happiness. The steps are very straightforward and very approachable. For me personally, I've learned to enjoy the process as much if not more than the outcome. This gives me many more opportunities to find gratitude and appreciation. Finally, two books referenced in this book and related that I found very helpful are Denial of Death by Ernest Becker and Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. The first talks about how we try to escape death by creating legacies and outcomes (buildings named after us, name in the paper, kids). This may be ok, but we should understand why we are doing things. This might not be the best way to live a life. The second book really focuses on living a life of purpose. Many studies have shown people very satisfied with their lives when finding purpose.

36 people found this helpful

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tracy millard

5.0 out of 5 stars

Excellent Read!

Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2022

This book is absolutely incredible. Arthur has a way with his words that makes it seem as if he's speaking directly to me. As someone in their thirties I can still relate to this book and will be using it as a guide from now into the future. I would recommend this book to anyone, even folks who are not entering their later years. You can draw a lot of inspiration from what Arthur has to say. Definitely worth the read!

40 people found this helpful

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Tony McMatter

5.0 out of 5 stars

For everyone. If you want to be happy read this book.

Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2022

Love his Atlantic column, this doesn't disappoint.

32 people found this helpful

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JP

5.0 out of 5 stars

Incredible read!

Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2022

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Arthur Brooks is a genius. I found the book to be filled with useful information for a striver like myself. Extremely helpful and I’m dying to get into Dr. Brooks’ happiness course at Harvard. Loved this book….

8 people found this helpful

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JHKCMO

5.0 out of 5 stars

Absolutely LOVED this book.

Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2022

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Do yourself a favor if you're 40+ and read this remarkable book by Arthur Brooks about maximizing the second half of your life. Based on solid social science research the book focuses on practical changes people can make to build purpose and meaning into life. WORTH YOUR TIME & MONEY!! P.S. currently sold out on Amazon because I tried to buy a few copies for friends yesterday. I will wait for the availability to improve and so should you.

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Lori Cotton

5.0 out of 5 stars

Awesome Read

Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2022

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As a recent retiree, the fear of not knowing was real. This book gave me a new perspective and direction to jump into my crystallized intelligence. For me, the references to faith and religion, service and mentorship is paramount to enjoying life. "Use things. Love people. Worship the divine." Awesome!

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Clara Saxton

5.0 out of 5 stars

good, understandable message

Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2022

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Progress, or change, often is accompanied by a period of instability. Mr. Brooks illustrates the steps we can take to make that an interesting and exciting transition.

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Walter Sowa Jr

5.0 out of 5 stars

A Great Read

Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2022

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Author fulfilled his objectives and provides all readers with a pathway forward to realize their best lives ever.

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Hector Olivera Jose Cispedes

5.0 out of 5 stars

Fabulous and full of great suggestions.

Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2022

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Great and insightful book. Very well written, and really made me think about my priorities. Buy it! You won't regret it.

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Susan Dormady Eisenberg

5.0 out of 5 stars

A Luminous Book With Practical Suggestions

Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2022

Arthur C. Brooks is a deep thinker and genuine force for good. This week I saw him on “Morning Joe,” instantly bought his book as an ebook, and read it in one day. As I finished I felt happy that I’d spent time in the author’s inspiring company. FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH is not a recipe book or road map. But it offers many stimulating ideas for reinvention in the later part of life. Eloquently written and meticulously researched, the book gives insights into embracing our weaknesses even as we move toward a more peaceful understanding of our humanity. I have recommended it to my husband and several dear friends already. I plan to read it again.

17 people found this helpful

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First Cumberland Presbyterian church

5.0 out of 5 stars

This is a great book for anyone in or approaching the second half of your life!

Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2022

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Loved it!!

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philip wood

5.0 out of 5 stars

LIFE AFFIRMING!

Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2022

Life affirming!

I have been moving rather painfully into my second half of life for awhile now. This book is like coming up for air. Exactly what the doctor ordered. With practical advice and clear strategies for kicking your success addiction, this book is really helpful and even life affirming. I found it to be super helpful and reassuring. There is solace in knowing that you are not alone in growing old and that there is a way to do so with grace and strength.

9 people found this helpful

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Jason M Gayl

5.0 out of 5 stars

Interesting read on driving towards happiness

Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2022

I was fortunate to have an advance copy of Arthur Brooks' From Strength to Strength. My own perspective comes from advising business owners who have had successful military careers or demonstrated technical brilliance during the first half of their lives. As they transition into a second career, they often find their reliance on the skills and talents that made them naturally successful in the first half are not the same traits needed for the next portion of their lives.

Arthur makes several points that will remain in my thinking as I advise the leaders in my network. The idea of imparting wisdom as the core of the second strength, while not complex, is profound. It is common belief amongst the leaders I know that they need permission or validation from a third party to see themselves as wise. Arthur's direct approach proves that each of us has the validity to share our lessons learned.

As I have read several of Arthur's books, his articles in the Atlantic and have seen him speak multiple times on television and in person, its interesting to see how his central themes of 1) compassion and love for all others, 2) the correlation between how we perceive our value to others and our personal happiness, and now this 3) validation of each of our roles as teachers and mentors creates a vin diagram where the central overlap is a vision our individual and communal happiness and success is driven by each of our role to pursue happiness for all.

How do we measure American success? This pursuit of happiness seems largely ignored today. I'd welcome Arthur's message to make its way into the central theme of government and politics, business and non-profits, academia and societal discussion. I look forward to seeing where Arthur takes this message in the upcoming years.

4 people found this helpful

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Mary Siddall

5.0 out of 5 stars

Practical

Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2022

Infinitely relatable and easy to read, this book is chocked full of shining examples of highly successful people throughout history who made the leap into the second half of life -- including the author himself, who follows his own research findings to leave his dream job at the height of his career to find happiness. Every striver and CEO in America should read this book. There is vast wisdom and practical advice for how to age with grace and let go of everything that does not serve us.

4 people found this helpful

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Ritzbaby

5.0 out of 5 stars

Practical and actionable

Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2022

Found the advice and suggestions to be so spot on not only for me in midlife but for my adult children and my parents. A wealth of actionable strategies to remain happy no matter what stage of life you are in!

3 people found this helpful

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T. Gaspari

5.0 out of 5 stars

Refreshing!

Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2022

Arthur C. Brooks has such an interesting and refreshing take on life! This book has been long awaited and will without a doubt be utilized widely just as it's intended to. A roadmap for the second half of life, teaching others what we can do at any age to improve our happiness as we get older.

4 people found this helpful

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Shiyrah Mielke

5.0 out of 5 stars

Finding happiness

Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2022

From Strength to Strength opens with a relatable story and left me wanting to know more. I could not put the book down after that. It provides a roadmap for finding happiness and purpose. Everyone needs to read it!

3 people found this helpful