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

by Arthur C. Brooks

thing: You lose your edge on those résumé skills, as everyone reading this book either knows or fears. Meanwhile, the eulogy virtues can

get stronger

Remembering that life won’t last forever makes us enjoy it all the more today.

Furthermore, women generally base friendships on social and emotional support, whereas men are more likely to base friendships on shared activities, including work. In other words, women have more real friends; men have more deal friends.[46]

They live their last decades looking out the back window of the car, anxiously watching the glorious past recede and unwilling to look into the future,

“How?” I asked. “By going within,” he replied. “When your mind is quieter, you will find that treasure waiting for you within.”

Elite credentials don’t make you relatable. They are a barrier to deep human connection.

“It’s a gift to exist, and with existence comes suffering,” replied Colbert. “I don’t want it to have happened . . . but if you are grateful for your life . . . then you have to be grateful for all of it. You can’t pick and choose what you’re grateful for.”

Almost every transition—even the most difficult one—bears some positive fruit; we usually see and treasure it in the long run.

In your next phase of life . . . What activities will you keep? What activities will you evolve and do differently? What activities will you let go of? What new activities will you learn?

This!

So, which one is best? Earlier in your life, you might have had a super-linear career, and that’s OK. But most likely, as you now move to the second curve, a spiral pattern will be more appropriate. That means thinking more about what you really want now and less about what you wanted in the past; lowering your expectations about monetary compensation;