It's Only Too Late If You Don't Start Now: HOW TO CREATE YOUR SECOND LIFE AT ANY AGE [Paperback]

Barbara Sher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 13, 1999

Shattering the myth that turns midlife (or any age) into a crisis, this provocative guide is packed with sage advice. Watch for career counselor Barbara Sher's upcoming PBS special.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

As baby boomers hit their 40s and 50s in record numbers, they're beginning to realize that middle age isn't what it used to be--that the old assumptions about these difficult years just aren't true anymore. Barbara Sher, the author of such motivational bestsellers as Live the Life You Love, believes that midlife is the beginning of something better than mere youth, a time when "you start to live your life to suit who you really are." Instead of worrying about your slowing body or unrealized expectations, Sher says, why not focus on new opportunities to take risks and try new experiences, or to take another crack at personal goals you never had a chance to go for in the past? Sher's unique view of aging is a heartening one, and it is sure to bring encouragement to those who would like to see "the big 4-0" as a beginning rather than an end. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Recognizing that many people feel that their best years are in the past once they turn 40, well-known therapist and author Sher (How To Live the Life You Love: Practical Strategies for Realizing Your Dreams, Audio Reviews, LJ 6/1/96) uses anecdotes, facts, and motivation to encourage listeners to make the most of the second half of their lives. Through a lengthy introduction, Sher revisits negative attitudes and experiences and points out their inaccuracies. She then provides exercises and encouragement to help facilitate positive change. Although she sometimes comes off as patronizing, there is enough substance here to appeal to the growing population of over-40 baby boomers, making this a solid addition to any library with other motivational materials.?Susan McCaffrey, Sturgis Middle Sch., MI
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Dell; New edition edition (April 13, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440507189
• ISBN-13: 978-0440507185
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 0.8 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #214,434 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

128 of 130 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WOW This book is a life changer!, June 5, 2000

By 

Gail Miller (Leeds, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: It's Only Too Late If You Don't Start Now: HOW TO CREATE YOUR SECOND LIFE AT ANY AGE (Paperback)

Have you got to 40 and thought your life was over? Well think again. It's Only Too Late If You Don't Start Now is here to show you that not only is your life *not* over at 40 - it's only just beginning!

In this life changing text Barbara Sher teaches us how to ignore social convention, turn our backs on cultural indoctrination and really start living. Did you know that the 'first half' of your life was only a period where you made your mistakes. It certainly wasn't the be all and end all. Bringing into focus once again your dreams, wishes and ambitions, here Ms Sher shows us how we have not yet even started to really live.

After reading this book to the end page, I flipped back to the first page and started reading again, it's so profound and a 'different' person finished reading the book than the one who started reading it! I turned 40 this year and this book has changed my life - will it change yours?

63 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Recommended Reading For Those At Crossroads, November 13, 2003

By 

E. M. Griffith "auntleesie" (Central Coast of California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: It's Only Too Late If You Don't Start Now: HOW TO CREATE YOUR SECOND LIFE AT ANY AGE (Paperback)

I've read all of the reviews here, and felt compelled to add my own two cents' worth. While the author might overly-emphasize the "beauty vs. wisdom" theory, and does dwell too much on her own view that dwindling libido = greater creative opportunities, I'd still recommend this book to anyone at a midlife crossroads. Why? Because it's a solidly helpful book in most respects.

When this book was released in 1998, I ordered a copy. I've been a big fan of Sher's for many years. At the time, my career had very unexpectedly stalled. Financial conditions were such that we (my family) had to downsize our home and lifestyle. In addition to those challenges, I had a breast cancer scare with lumpectomy. A few months later, my Dad died. This book was enormously helpful to me at a time when it seemed everything had tilted on axis in my world. Sher truly did help me find answers to the question, "Where do I go from here?"

Chapter 3, "Time Limits", was particulalry encouraging. Slapped hard in the face with the concepts of mortality, I began falling into crisis mode. What if my time is cut short? What if I've already run out of time? Those were haunting questions. Burying a parent in the midst of that crisis only served as fuel to the fear. Chapter 3 was enormously valuable in helping me to take some deep breaths, calm down and really explore what finite time had meant **and could mean** to me.

Chapter 8, "Escape to Freedom", was another wonderful section that had a profound impact in my life. It's a chapter that I feel would be useful to anyone at any age. That chapter alone is worth the price of the book, and I still review chapters 10 and 11 periodically. Those last chapters brough about significant change in my life. They could for you, too.

I only wish Ms. Sher had focussed more on the above-mentioned aspects of her message earlier in the book, because I believe age is something to celebrate, and beauty can glow from the face of a 90 year old. I also believe that most of us hope to enjoy a healthy, active libido right up 'till the day we're planted in the ground.

To summarize? If you, like me, can dismiss Sher's personal opinions about (physically) aging, then I believe you'll gain much from the other, more encouraging, insightful & proactive elements of this book.

112 of 117 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Help and hope for the second half, December 15, 2000

By 

mike herlihy (Washington DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: It's Only Too Late If You Don't Start Now: HOW TO CREATE YOUR SECOND LIFE AT ANY AGE (Paperback)

Like a coach's halftime inspiration, I couldn't wait to get started after reading this book. I have liked all of Barbara Sher's books, but this is her crowning work of wisdom. While written for midlife, it speaks to any age and anyone seeking an authentic life. The chapters are funny and full of exercises and questions to break through conventions and assumptions that keep people from listening to their deeper urges. I particularly liked the exercises that helped me relive my childhood loves and desires and to find the core that related to my life today. I liked her discussion of the logic of past mistakes, which create the platform for fashioning the next stage of life.

This is not your typical career book. It is for anyone who has heard an inner voice calling them to take a risk and create work and a life that is entirely original. It convinced me it is never too late.