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Changing Gear: Creating the Life You Want After a Full On Career
'Changes occur all the time. They can be identifiable and dramatic, or they can emerge imperceptibly, creeping up on you until one day you realise your foundations are less solid than you imagined. At this point in your life you need to find a new path.'
Coping with transition can be hard at every stage of life, but it presents unique challenges as we come to the time of our lives when we are facing the end of full-on, full-time work.
Changing Gear looks at why work is such an important part of a person's identity, and how challenging it can be when it's time to change gear, whether that's to explore a new path or take a step back from our careers entirely.
Offering insight, advice and practical exercises to help you make the right decisions, this valuable guide gives you the tools to navigate complicated situations, identify what's most important, and develop the skills you need to cope with change.
Coping with transition can be hard at every stage of life, but it presents unique challenges as we come to the time of our lives when we are facing the end of full-on, full-time work.
Changing Gear looks at why work is such an important part of a person's identity, and how challenging it can be when it's time to change gear, whether that's to explore a new path or take a step back from our careers entirely.
Offering insight, advice and practical exercises to help you make the right decisions, this valuable guide gives you the tools to navigate complicated situations, identify what's most important, and develop the skills you need to cope with change.
- GenresNonfiction
352 pages, Paperback
Published January 24, 2023
55 people are currently reading
118 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 12, 2025
Valuable self reflection
I found this book valuable because of the self reflection it caused. I am reading it well before I plan to change gears but thinking and planning ahead is a good thing. I definitely think it's worth the read as a prompt to thinking
I found this book valuable because of the self reflection it caused. I am reading it well before I plan to change gears but thinking and planning ahead is a good thing. I definitely think it's worth the read as a prompt to thinking
February 10, 2023
Curates egg. I enjoyed and got value from the final quarter - it also made me realise I should’ve applied some of the business principles I’ve used over the years. That section was thought provoking.
The build up less so. I understand that case studies can be illustrative but to me they felt contrived and poor.
Rated a 3 for the balancing reasons above. I would’ve given the exercises 4.5
The build up less so. I understand that case studies can be illustrative but to me they felt contrived and poor.
Rated a 3 for the balancing reasons above. I would’ve given the exercises 4.5
July 30, 2021
For readers on GoodReads, I am afraid this is another one for those at least in their mid-50s!
Jan Hall and Jon Stokes have written a most comprehensive vademecum for those approaching or already tacking what they call the Third Life (taking inspiration from the Hindu 3-stage model of life). As the subtitle says, their intent is to help the reader to ‘Create the life you want after a full-on career”.
The book is roughly divided thus:
- 130 pages of case studies of people retiring or being retired after a “full-on career”, usually in the 55-65 age bracket: if you are one of them, I can’t imagine how you will not find at least one that resonates with you
- the next 85 pages are a hotchpotch of all the different psychological forces, obstacles, influences and perspectives you may be experiencing during “the transition process”
- a 60-page section describing an 8-step How To guide
- a final 50 pages giving numerous exercises intended to tease out your true needs, motivations, and skill set as well as your ingrained biases and habits
Being already a decade into my “Third Life” — long enough to realise that “creating the one you want” is not (as parts of the book could be misread as saying) an initial one-off effort that lasts 1-3 years, but rather a continuous dynamic exercise — I picked up the book based on a good review in one of the rags thinking I would check for any ideas I had not considered.
I found the book a bit long-winded and exhausting, but more useful than I expected. Surprisingly, most of its usefulness came from actually putting myself through the exercises in the final section.
You will likely have to persevere through the numerous case studies in the first section: while you will find enough to make you feel you are not alone, they become a bit repetitive. But at least they are about real people. Which cannot be said about the second section, which is the most turgid — it feels like the authors felt the need to honour every psychologists’ pet theory on this subject without over-taxing the reader, so we get a laundry list of ‘stuff’ but each in little depth.
The third section does help bring the different strands together into one 8-step guide. But it is only by forcing yourself to complete the practical exercises at the end that you may discover unifying themes about your life’s narrative that you may not have fully realised were there. This reader found the charting of the “Lifeline” on p.299 particularly striking.
Jan Hall and Jon Stokes have written a most comprehensive vademecum for those approaching or already tacking what they call the Third Life (taking inspiration from the Hindu 3-stage model of life). As the subtitle says, their intent is to help the reader to ‘Create the life you want after a full-on career”.
The book is roughly divided thus:
- 130 pages of case studies of people retiring or being retired after a “full-on career”, usually in the 55-65 age bracket: if you are one of them, I can’t imagine how you will not find at least one that resonates with you
- the next 85 pages are a hotchpotch of all the different psychological forces, obstacles, influences and perspectives you may be experiencing during “the transition process”
- a 60-page section describing an 8-step How To guide
- a final 50 pages giving numerous exercises intended to tease out your true needs, motivations, and skill set as well as your ingrained biases and habits
Being already a decade into my “Third Life” — long enough to realise that “creating the one you want” is not (as parts of the book could be misread as saying) an initial one-off effort that lasts 1-3 years, but rather a continuous dynamic exercise — I picked up the book based on a good review in one of the rags thinking I would check for any ideas I had not considered.
I found the book a bit long-winded and exhausting, but more useful than I expected. Surprisingly, most of its usefulness came from actually putting myself through the exercises in the final section.
You will likely have to persevere through the numerous case studies in the first section: while you will find enough to make you feel you are not alone, they become a bit repetitive. But at least they are about real people. Which cannot be said about the second section, which is the most turgid — it feels like the authors felt the need to honour every psychologists’ pet theory on this subject without over-taxing the reader, so we get a laundry list of ‘stuff’ but each in little depth.
The third section does help bring the different strands together into one 8-step guide. But it is only by forcing yourself to complete the practical exercises at the end that you may discover unifying themes about your life’s narrative that you may not have fully realised were there. This reader found the charting of the “Lifeline” on p.299 particularly striking.
January 17, 2022
Overall a very useful book and the last 100 pages are the ones I truly enjoyed reading and believe to be very valuable for anyone in their second half of their career and still for those who already started their third life.
The lead up to this is a longwinded at times but later on shared experiences make it better. It useful to read from the start to get true value out of the book.
In summary, 3 stars for the first 200 pages and 5 star for the remainder
The lead up to this is a longwinded at times but later on shared experiences make it better. It useful to read from the start to get true value out of the book.
In summary, 3 stars for the first 200 pages and 5 star for the remainder
May 13, 2023
There are many stories about people moving into retirement, and some typical exercises to analyze yourself in the last section. There is very little in this book that hasn't been printed or YouTubed before. It is useful as a sort of wrap-up, but gives little reason to read every page. There were a couple of stories about people who offered to retire, secretly hoping to be asked to stay, and were shocked to find everyone eagerly planning their succession. A rude surprise.
September 19, 2024
Useful Structured Guide for Thinking Ahead to Retirement/Semi-Retirement
I’ve hit an age this year (2024) where possible retirement is starting to loom up. This book has helped me to think forward about my impending 3rd Age, and to start planning ahead for what it might look like.
Strongly recommended for anyone around 55 and above who wants to put a plan in place for how retirement might work for them.
I’ve hit an age this year (2024) where possible retirement is starting to loom up. This book has helped me to think forward about my impending 3rd Age, and to start planning ahead for what it might look like.
Strongly recommended for anyone around 55 and above who wants to put a plan in place for how retirement might work for them.
July 19, 2023
Not sure if I will ever do any of the myriad exercises suggested...at least not in a formal way. But I did appreciate the many options offered and explained. Overall, a good source for folks a year or 3 out from "retirement"
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews