Resources — Next Chapter Coaching

Rediscovering Identity - Who Am I Now

The Second Mountain - David Brooks - Focus on the transition from achievement to meaning, relationships and contribution
The Road to Character - David Brooks - Explores the difference between external success and inner character
Man’s Search for Meaning - Viktor Frankl - Finding identity, resilience, and the meaning of life under the most difficult of circumstances
The Gifts of Imperfection - Brene Brown - Building self-awareness, authenticity and self-acceptance
Life Reimagined - Richard Leider & Alan Webber - Focus on navigating midlife and retirement
The Wonder of Aging - Michael Gurian - A new approach to embracing life after Fifty
Retirement Planning Guidebook: Navigating the Important Decisions for Retirement Success - Wade Pfau
"From Strength to Strength" — Arthur C. Brooks - Addresses identity disruption when career-based achievement starts to decline, and how to build a new sense of self around wisdom and contribution rather than performance.

Next Avenue - Contains numerous articles on finding purpose after retirement, reinvention, identity after retirement and meaningful aging
Second Wind Movement - Articles and resources focused on finding purpose beyond career, purpose and reinvention in retirement and contribution
Encore - Promotes purpose, meaningful work, and stronger connections across generations, particularly in the second half of life. Publishes a range of articles pertaining to retirement, including purpose-driven living, reinventing after retirement and intentional living
Greater Good Science Center - Contains numerous articles on finding purpose later in life, guides to aging well, and finding fulfillment in retirement
Stanford Center on Longevity - Explores identity and purpose later in the second half of life and how purpose evolves after traditional careers end and why purpose is linked to better physical and emotional health.

Who am I without my career, job title and roles?
What values have remained constant throughout my life?
When do I feel most like myself?
What matters more to me now than it did twenty years ago? What matters less?
Is there a version of myself I abandoned earlier in life — for practicality, acceptance, or approval— that I have room to return to now?

Being Mortal - Atul Gawande - A physician's exploration of what people actually want from their remaining years once achievement isn't the only goal — reframes purpose around autonomy and meaning, not just longevity.
Man’s Search for Meaning - Viktor Frankl - Finding identity, resilience, and the meaning of life under the most difficult of circumstances
Encore - Marc Freedman - About the "encore career" movement — people in their 50s-70s moving into work with social purpose, often for less money but more meaning.
Falling Upward - Richard Rohr - The "two halves of life" framework — the second half meant for meaning and service rather than ego-building.
Successful Aging - Daniel Levitin - Examines what research tells us about aging well, including purpose, relationships, cognitive health, and emotional well-being.

Next Avenue - Contains numerous articles on finding purpose after retirement, reinvention, identity after retirement and meaningful aging
Stanford Center on Longevity - Explores identity and purpose later in the second half of life and how purpose evolves after traditional careers end and why purpose is linked to better physical and emotional health.
Harvard Health Publishing - Explores the benefits of having a sense of purpose and how this contributes to a longer health span, greater resilience, and better cognitive health

When have I felt most alive, engaged or fulfilled during my life?
What challenges have taught me the most about myself and how do I carry these lessons forward?
What strengths have others consistently seen in you?
What experiences have shaped who you are today?

Life Reimagined: The science, art, and opportunity of midlife - Barbara Bradley Hagerty - Hagerty challenges the idea that midlife and later life are primarily about decline and instead explores how people can reassess priorities, relationships, work, and meaning.
From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life — Arthur C. Brooks - Explores what happens when the abilities that produced our professional accomplishments begin to change and how individuals can shift toward wisdom, relationships, service, and purpose.
The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life — David Brooks - The “Second Mountain” represents a shift toward commitment, relationships, service, and something larger than oneself. Stanford's Center on Longevity specifically recommends it as a resource for recalibrating after a first career.
Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life: How to Finally, Really Grow Up — James Hollis - Explores the difference between the life individuals have been expected to live and the life they may genuinely want to live.
Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life — Richard Rohr - The book’s central idea is that the second half of life requires a different way of seeing ourselves and the world. Rather than simply accumulating more accomplishments, we begin to ask deeper questions about meaning, wisdom, surrender and contribution.

Second Wind Movement- SWM focuses specifically on purposeful retirement, post-career passions, personal growth, identity, and meaningful contribution. Its Growth section includes material such as Who Am I Now? and Rebuilding Identity After Retirement.
AARP - Reimagine Your Life- material is particularly strong on the idea that reinvention begins with reflection. It encourages people to reconsider their life story, values, interests, and possibilities rather than assuming the future has to follow the same narrative as the past.
Encore - The Purpose Prize - A source of real-life reinvention stories. The Purpose Prize was created to recognize social innovation and meaningful contribution in the second half of life.

What part of my life is waiting to be discovered or rediscovered?
Am I trying to recreate the life I had, or am I willing to discover the life that is possible for me now
Where do I feel that I have something meaningful to give?
What new communities might become part of my next chapter?
What would I like my life to feel like—not just look like?