Midlife, New Life

Book excerpt: Are you anticipating midlife with excitement? Are you also wondering “What’s Next?” Midlife is a time for adventures and great, new opportunities, but it can also present uncertainty and challenges. Do you have questions about what lies ahead and about how to make the most of the good things to come and meet the difficult ones head on? You’re not alone. Eileen Caroscio, Sandy Demarest, and Paul Ward—three well-known thought leaders in the field of second half of life navigation and positive living—have answers in Midlife, New Life: Living Consciously in Midlife and Beyond. If we adopt a living consciously approach to the future, decisions about major life and work transitions can be made with confidence. The Midlife, New Life team brings their expertise, experiences, research findings, and wisdom to bear in this engaging, friendly, and comprehensive guide. They share life lessons and insights and provide practical tools and resources to help you plan and prepare for your journey. Their guidance will help you find meaning and purpose, stay engaged and healthy, support your cognitive functioning, enhance your support network, work for a living and for fulfillment, savor the world, and give back. This transformative book will— • encourage you to reflect on what tips and resources (not just financial ones) resonate with you and which ones you want to try • inspire, educate, and encourage you about what to expect and how to optimally approach midlife for a fulfilling life journey • provide strategies and purposeful practices to support life and work transitions • share wisdom from those who have walked the road ahead Midlife, New Life showcases what can happen when we talk to each other and have purposeful conversations that matter. Coming together, sharing conversation, sharing wisdom is part of this valuable book’s process. The authors of Midlife, New Life share their philosophy: “The power of conversation, curiosity, connection, and common goals of helping others navigate the second half of life brought us into collaborative relationship in writing a book and pulling all of our expertise together in a creative, fun project for the common good.” Chapters and Themes 1. Exploring Purposefully (finding meaning and purpose in how you live your life) 2. Living Well (how to support all your key well-being factors) 3. Appreciating Money 4. Working for a Living 5. Working for Fulfillment 6. Savoring the World 7. Living Life Creatively 8. Minding Relationships 9. Helping Humanity (giving back in diverse ways that match your interests and concerns) 10. Living with Technology (how you can use technology to help you live optimally) 11. Bouncing Forward (the art of building up your resilience for bumps in the road) Eileen Caroscio, CSC, RN, MSN Eileen is a multicertified coach and consultant, and a registered nurse. She is passionate about helping individuals achieve their goals and live their best lives. Referred to as the “midlife muse,” she engages people beyond their titles, jobs, and formalities to get to the core of what will enrich their midlives and make them more meaningful and magical. Sandy Demarest Sandy is an executive career, retirement, lifestyle, and leadership coach, trainer, and speaker. She leverages her experience to help organizations and mid–late-stage workers transition to new chapters. She specializes in training and coaching programs focusing on topics such as Engage as You Age, From Fulltime Career to Fulltime Life, and Create Your Next Meaningful Chapter. Sandy is the founder and owner of Demarest Directions, which provides coaching, training, and retreats. Paul Ward, Ph.D. Paul is an international conscious leadership and conscious living coach, author of The Inner Journey to Conscious Leadership, and host of conscious conversation circles. He is sometimes referred to as the “consciousness whisperer.” Paul is the principal owner of the coaching, consulting, and training company 2Young2Retire, LLC, offering impactful transitions coaching and facilitator certification training.