Books Archive

Edit Your Life

Retirement Wisdom · Feb 19, 2024 ·

by Elisabeth Sharp McKetta

What do you do after you design your life? Elizabeth Sharp McKetta has a great idea: edit your life. I read over 60 books last year and this is the by far best book I read.

McKetta describes it as an “organizing book for the soul” and while it’s not about retirement specifically, that event could be a timely catalyst for this impactful book. A talented editor brings out the best in a writer’s work, sharpens it’s focus and illuminates it’s essence. This book helps you do the same with your life.

Edit Your Life presents a powerful process to reflect on your life and make targeted edits to amplify your satisfaction. The book is organized three parts. Part One entails examining your life with an eye toward the possibilities of what it could become and a look at what is needed. Part Two immerses you in the editing process. You’ll edit for clarity, growth and generosity. In Part Three you put your edits into action in your daily life and focus on enjoyment.

Along the way, McKetta introduces a number of compelling and useful ideas. One of my favorites is First Choices or “painless long shots.” When you’re considering making a change or choosing a new pursuit, don’t settle. Set your sights higher and start with the best option. Another is her idea of following the wisdom of the seasons. Clarify what’s necessary for each season and take full advantage of the unique offerings of each one. This a great concept for the seasons of the year and for the seasons of life as well.

Edit Your Life is a wonderful and practical book that emphasizes looking at what’s necessary and what’s possible. It’s a valuable resource for people considering what’s next?

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Buy Edit Your Life by Elisabeth Sharp McKetta

Listen to my podcast conversation with Elisabeth Sharp McKetta here

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Book summaries you may be interested in:

Designing Your Life

Retirement Wisdom · Jan 31, 2024 ·

By Christina Wallace

This is yet another excellent book that’s not explicitly all about retirement, yet very applicable to retirement.

Christina Wallace describes herself as a “human Venn Diagram.” Her portfolio life includes being a Senior Lecturer at the Harvard Business School, startup mentor, angel investor, writer, podcaster and theater producer – and that’s just on the professional side of her life.

The core idea of this book is taking business frameworks and exploring how they can be used in life planning and design. A foundational concept behind The Portfolio Life is a familiar principle in investing: diversification. Wallace makes a compelling case against putting all of your eggs in any one basket, when it comes to designing your life. It’s a concept that fits quite well with planning your life in retirement. Rather than looking for a singular interest to replace what full-time work provided you, craft a combination of multiple pursuits instead.

Another useful idea that Wallace advocates is to create your own personal Board of Directors who can advise and assist you in your future endeavors. And like an organization’s board, she notes that you’ll want to think through the optimal roles and skills you’ll want the collective board to possess. She advises build a diverse group to play different roles like Coach, Negotiator, Connector, Cheerleader and Truth Teller.

Another practice Wallace recommends importing from the business word is measurement. What gets measured is indeed what gets done. She recommends building your Personal Balanced Scorecard to gauge how you’re doing with your new portfolio. Creating it can be a thought provoking exercise in defining and clarifying what success and and/or satisfaction will look like for you in your new life.

If you’re unclear about your vision for your future The Portfolio Life includes practical exercises that can help you started. One especially powerful one is 100 Wishes, which she described in my podcast conversation with her. You can listen in here and get started on building your own portfolio life.

Buy The Portfolio Life here

Listen to my podcast conversation with Christina Wallace

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Related Book Summaries You May Like:

Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans

Tapas Life by Andrew Robin

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Retirement Wisdom · Dec 29, 2023 ·

How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen | by David Brooks

While I don’t especially love the title of this new book by David Brooks, I do appreciate his insightful books, especially The Road to Character and The Second Mountain. I find that they offer a different perspective and practical ideas on mid-to-later life.

In How to Know a Person, Brooks continues sharing the research and experiences underpinning his journey of reflection and personal growth. This book focuses on honing the ability to truly see and understand others as a key building block for healthy relationships, meaningful connection and community, all of which are key elements in a satissfying life in retirement. Brooks sees this ability as an important skill that can be developed and cultivated over time. Brooks starts with power of observing others carefully, and explores the value of empathy, deep listening, vulnerability and the art of meaningful conversation. He also has a take on wisdom. In his view it’s not about knowledge – it’s “about knowing about people.”

The core idea I’m taking away from How to Know a Person is a choice that Brooks poses: Are you an Illuminator or a Diminisher?

He explains that Illuminators are genuinely curious about others and know how to ask the right questions at the right time. They know how to read people. They bring out the best in people up amplify their strengths, including ones that they may not fully see in themselves. In contrast, Diminishers are self-absorbed and make other people feel small. I think this is an important choice to consider and can have a big impact on your relationships, interactions and satisfaction in life. This book offers useful ” how-to” ideas on understanding others better and enhancing your skills in building deeper relationships.

In 2024, let’s strive to be Illuminators – and minimize the time we spend with Diminishers (the in-person ones and the virtual ones).

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Buy How to Know a Person by David Brooks

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Retirement Wisdom · Dec 9, 2023 ·

Quitting: A Life Strategy: The Myth of Perseverance―and How the New Science of Giving Up Can Set You Free by Julia Keller

They say that breaking up is hard to do. Is something telling you it’s time to move on? Could a single word be standing between you and the next phase of life you’ve been planning for and dreaming about?

Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Julia Keller thinks that we need to step back an reconsider our beliefs about the emotionally charged word quitting. In our culture we highly value grit and staying the course. We’re taught from a very young age the importance of perseverance. In sports and in the work world, it’s rewarded. And these traits and indeed valuable. But Keller notes, perhaps we overvalue them. She points out that in a many situations sticking it out is not the smartest play. Moving on is. But our aversion to quitting often holds us back from making the bold decision to change course and pursue a different path. Keller makes a compelling case for why strategic quitting can be transformational in certain situations and lays out why it can be a courageous act of love to make a course correction versus sticking it out. She explores the neuroscience behind quitting and recounts examples from her own life, and the experiences of people from various walks of life for whom quitting was exactly the right move.

While this is not specifically a book about retirement, if you’re contemplating retirement or a pivot to a second act, you’ll find this book to be timely, insightful and thought-provoking.

Listen to my podcast conversation with Julia Keller here

Buy Quitting: A Life Strategy: The Myth of Perseverance―and How the New Science of Giving Up Can Set You Free

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Retirement Wisdom · Dec 1, 2023 ·

Next!: The Power of Reinvention in Life and Work by Joanne Lipman

Change is hard. But it’s often well worth it. As people approach retirement, many people sense that they’re not done yet. They have more to contribute, more to learn and more to do. And so thoughts often turn to an encore career. What’s next? How can I redirect and redeploy my skills and experience? What if I took on something entirely new?

As someone who’s done that, I can attest that creating a second career isn’t easy, but it is quite doable – and highly rewarding in many different ways. But how do you get there? What’s the playbook?

Joanne Lipman is an award-winning journalist, who has served as Editor-in-Chief of USA Today, USA Today Network, Conde Nast Portfolio, and The Wall Street Journal’s Weekend Journal, In Next!: The Power of Reinvention in Life and Work, she’s created a valuable guide based on her research, experience and hundreds of conversations with experts in various fields and people who’ve successfully made a career pivot, including the inside story of James Patterson’s transition from advertising to becoming prolific author. It’s insightful and practical.

What I love about this book is that it dispels a number of common, pervasive myths about career pivots. The first is that second careers are sudden. Lipman points out that they’re more often the product of many “tiny moves” along the way that lay the foundation for a new career. The second is that the pathway is linear. She notes that baby boomers are increasingly creating new careers later in life by leveraging secondary nascent talents and side projects that lead to a new direction.

The heart of the book is what she calls a “Reinvention Roadmap” consisting of four stages that emerged as common denominators in her interviews: Search, Struggle, Stop, and Solution. The first step,The Search, is when you are collecting information and experiences to accumulate knowledge. She notes that counterintuitively, it’s often unintentional and can lead you to unexpected places. The second stage is The Struggle, the uncomfortable stage where you start to disconnect from your previous identity, but before you’ve figured out your next move and your new identity. Lipman highlights that this stage can last for some time, until you reach the third stage, The Stop, which is the transition point where you move on to your future.

A key point in this book is that The Struggle is a pivotal stage. Lipman explains this phase can be deceptive. People that they’re spinning their wheels, but it turns out that this is where real progress is made and encore careers are ultimately created. And it’s where some people give up too soon. This is perhaps the most valuable section in Next! You’ll come away prepared to anticipate, appreciate and even embrace this satge.

Echoing the Designing Your Life process created by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, Lipman spotlights the power of exploring multiple “possible selves” and the value of working with an “Expert Companion” who can offer guidance and support to your journey. If an encore career is of interest to you, Next! is a must read.

Listen to my podcast conversation with Joanne Lipman here.

Buy Next!: The Power of Reinvention in Life and Work

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