Act 3 the Art of Growing Older - Judy Reith and Adrian Reith

Thrilled to be on the blog tour for this book today.

Description

At last, the life you want . . . post 50.

We’re living longer, in better health, with higher expectations than any generation in human history. With an extra adult chapter to look forward to, what will you do? Who else could you be? How will you evolve the best plan for your life between 50 and 80?

Judy and Adrian Reith have decades of experience in helping people see hidden possibilities, clarify their goals and achieve life-changing results. In Act 3 they suggest practical steps to make your life more fulfilling as you age. From the ground up this book will help you identify and strengthen the four roots you’ll need for a happy and successful third act. It illustrates how your attitude, purpose, relationships and values are keystones to a life without regret.

Act 3 gives tools and tips to help you focus on what matters, with chapters on Work, Home, Money, Health, Play, the World and Friends. You’ll be inspired by original stories of those who have changed their lives after 50 and be able to re-imagine your future, and so get the life you want . . . at last.

Review

The book uses a tree as its framework, with branches and roots to cover the different areas of our lives after the age of 50. There's an illustration to refer back to as the book covers each area in turn. In fact one of the things I liked about the book were the little illustrations dotted throughout the book together with relevant quotes from famous people.

One of the first things the book asks you to do is write or draw in a journal alongside the book and I admit my heart sank a little, as I do not like doing this kind of thing. I carried on with the book and found it so useful even without doing this step - so don't be put off if you don't like the idea of a journal either.

I found the book to be full of useful and reassuring advice with a little parental feeling to it. It was good to read suggestions rather than feeling you have to have the answers all the time for the family. One of the key take aways for me was the advice in the relationships chapter. It talks about saying sorry without justification - even if you think you are right you can say "I'm sorry you're upset" - I just loved this.

There are also lots of references to other books and links for you to explore further things that particularly interest you. These are listed at the back of the book for easy reference.

In the health and science chapter there are some simple tests you can do to test how fit you are or how good your balance is. Another chapter I found really good was the one on Home. This asks you to look at your home and see if it is future proofed for you. It may be a little early for some but it's a great chapter to return to when you need it or to use now for your parents.

Dementia is also touched upon with some very useful advice for interacting for those that have dementia. Finally death is discussed in a practical down to earth way. Things to sort out now rather than leave your family to deal with.

There were lots of things I haven't found in a book like this before. It's certainly a book to be read and re read and to keep on hand for reference. Use of personal references by the author make the book less textbook like and the style of writing is so accessible.

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars and my thanks to Random Things Tours for the blog tour invite and to the authors for a copy of the book to review.

    About the Authors

Judy Reith draws on her professional training in child development, counselling and parent education to help thousands of parents, some of whom are also entering Act 3. She is the author of 7 Secrets of Raising Girls Every Parent Must Know, Be a Great Mum and Transform Living with Teenagers. 

Aged fifty in 2006, Adrian Reith ditched a successful career as a writer and director in advertising to help people unscramble their mental spaghetti. He and Judy live together in Cambridge.