FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH

The bestselling author and popular Atlantic columnist ponders a way to “get off the hamster wheel of success and accept inevitable professional decline with grace.”

Drawing from his media columns and research, Brooks, author of Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America From the Culture of Contempt and other books, approaches the conundrum of the later-life career striver from a social science angle and presents the bounty of his analysis through advice and encouragement. He begins with an idea that many professionals find personally devastating: that the majority will peak in their careers much earlier than they’d imagined, like entrepreneurial tech founders who experience creative declines in their early 30s. He examines the problem with psychologists and, most notably, career professionals feeling the pinch of dissatisfaction while remaining hooked on the pursuit of smoothly unabated career advancement. Brooks shows how this process of decline can bruise pride and elicit fear, and he investigates how it can also be difficult to comprehend and even more challenging to accept, as it contradicts our innate instinct to continue creating successful ventures. In accessible, affable prose that also incorporates spirituality, including teachings of ancient Indian and Buddhist philosophers, Brooks discusses the psychology and addictive allure of satisfaction. One of the less attractive but essential keys to achieving contentment, he notes, lies in the power of downsizing. The author urges those facing a midlife career quandary to move forward and discover new strengths and skills and to zero in on the things that bring lasting happiness—instead of merely “adding brushstrokes to an already full canvas.” Using his goal-oriented structure and sage guidance, like-minded readers may be able to break the “striver’s curse” and avoid unnecessary disillusionment. As he shows, there is real meaning and happiness to be found in the second half of adulthood.

Thoughtful reflections and practical counsel on career downshifting at midlife and beyond.