The Adult Years: Mastering the Art of Self-Renewal / Edition 2

by Frederic M. Hudson

Overview

The Adult Years is a compelling look at adulthood as an opportunityfor continual revitalization, reorientation, and positive change.In this revised edition, Frederic Hudson updates and refines hisvision, reflecting the extraordinary challenges we all face intoday's fast-paced, ever-changing society. Whether you are eighteenor eighty-eight, this classic best-selling guide will inspire youto unlock the power of personal renewal.

Praise for the First Edition

"The most compelling book ever written on personal transition andtransformation. If you are concerned about your own renewal and therenewal of our planet, you must read this book."—James M. Kouzes,coauthor of The Leadership Challenge, Second Edition

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780787948016
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	07/19/1999
Edition description:	Revised Edition
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.04(h) x 0.94(d)

About the Author

FREDERIC M. HUDSON, Ph.D. is founder of the Hudson Institute, which offers training programs for adult renewal, empowerment, and leadership. For more than 30 years, Hudson has worked with hundreds of corporations and governmental agencies and more than 17,000 individuals, coaching and conducting seminars for adults seeking fulfillment and a clearer direction in life.

Table of Contents

PrefaceAbout the AuthorPrologue
Part One: The Emerging Adult
1. In Over Our Heads
2. Finding Fulfillment in Cyclical LivesTable 1. Linear andCyclical Views
Part Two: The Renewal Cycle: Life Chapters and LifeTransitions
3. An Overview of the Renewal CycleDiagram 1. The Renewal Cycle:Life Chapters and Life TransitionsDiagram 2. Ten Life Skills forSustaining Purpose and Passion in the Renewal Cycle
4. Life ChaptersDiagram 3. Phase 1_Dreaming, Planning, andPlateauingDiagram 4. Phase 2_Managing the Doldrums
5. Life TransitionsDiagram 5. Phase 3_Cocooning: Coming to Termswith YourselfDiagram 6. Phase 4_Getting Ready for the Next Chapter:A Time for Experimenting
Part Three: The Adult Life Cycle
6. Meaning and Mission Across the Life CycleDiagram 7. The LifeCycleDiagram 8. The Adult Life Cycle: Eight Versions of HumanPurposeTable 2. Decade Orientations in the Life Cycle
7. The Twenties, Thirties, and Midlife Transition: Breaking Out,Staking Out, and Making It
8. The Forties and Fifties: Taking Stock, Individuating, andEnjoying Life
9. The Sixties, Seventies, Eighties, and Nineties: The Longest andLeast-Defined Life Phase
10. Getting from Here to There: Six Principles of DevelopmentalChangeTable 3. Historical Values
Part Four: Adults and Global Change
11. Valuing the Global Context: The Adult Challenges of theTwenty-First Century
12. The Self-Renewing Adult, the Resilient Society: Ten Qualitiesof Self-Renewing Persons
13. A New Profession of Adult Mentors and Coaches Notes
Reading ListIndex

Editorial Reviews

"The most compelling book ever written on personal transition andtransformation. If you are concerned about your own renewal and therenewal of our planet, you must read this book." —James M. Kouzes,coauthor of The Leadership Challenge, Second Edition

"The Adult Years will help you to think about your life-and to stayvital all your life." —John W. Gardner, consulting professor,Stanford University, former secretary of Health, Education andWelfare

"If you want to sustain personal empowerment throughout your adultyears, read this book. Whether you are young or old, up or down,married or divorced, you will be inspired and informed by thisbook." —Harville HAndrix, author of Getting the Love You Want: AGuide for Couples

"I recommAnd Hudson's book with great enthusiasm to all who areinterested in quality of life and peak performance in life's middleyears." —Charles A. Garfield, author of Peak Performers: The NewHeroes of American Business

"A rare blAnd of personal experience and testimony from people ofmany ages. This book provides a refreshingly optimistic perspectiveon age and aging." —Judy Stevens-Long, author of Adult Life,fourth edition

"I have taught adult development for years, and there simply is nobook that is more informative about the growth and development ofadults than Hudson's Adult Years. It is an amazing distillation ofthe field, and so exciting to read. It should be a text in adultdevelopment courses everywhere." —Judy Stevens-Long, author ofAdult Life, This Andorsement was supplied specifically for thesecond edition

From the Publisher

Superseding Gail Sheehy ( Passages , LJ 5/15/76) and other stage theorists of adult life, Hudson writes that college graduates will achieve personal fulfillment and develop into better mentors and leaders if they see life as cycles of stability, as opposed to ``transition and reevaluation, followed by more stability.'' Adults, Hudson claims, perform major tasks like work and caretaking repeatedly but differently over the course of a lifetime. These tasks require skills, and the most notable skill is ``self-renewal''--an exploration that may lead to a transformation of values, beliefs, and feelings. Although his analysis of society has major faults (e.g., he virtually ignores self-help groups and religion), Hudson's model for adult development is detailed, interdisciplinary, and useful. An excellent choice for public and academic libraries.-- Steven A. Fondiller, St. John's Univ. Lib., Jamaica, N.Y.

Library Journal

Hudson founded an institute which offers training programs for adult renewal, empowerment, and leadership, and has worked in the field for more than 30 years. Addressing the growing segment of the US population over 50, he discusses how people find meaning and mission across the adult life cycle. This is a revised edition; the original's year of publication is not stated. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews