4 Ways to Avoid Your Professional Decline

What happens when the abilities that brought you professional success start to decline?

In this episode of Office Hours, I explore how our strengths change with age and how to be happier as they do. Drawing on my book From Strength to Strength, I explain fluid and crystallized intelligence and contrast how Darwin and Bach responded to professional decline.

As always, I leave you with practical steps to help you navigate this transition and find more happiness, meaning, and fulfillment as you age.

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro

(10:40) How happiness changes with age

(15:09) Who is happiest after 70

(17:40) The inevitability of age-related decline in our abilities

(21:49) Lessons on aging from the lives of Darwin and Bach

(32:05) Why our abilities decline with age

(39:01) #1. Jump to the new curve

(40:51) #2. Serve other people

(42:15) #3. Develop your life philosophy

(43:40) #4. Connect more deeply with others

(46:28) Q&A: Navigating relationships with adult children

(47:51) Q&A: Finding meaningful ways to spend retirement

(49:01) Q&A: How to handle “deal” friends

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Referenced:

• The Meaning of Your Life: Finding Purpose in an Age of Emptiness: https://www.arthurbrooks.com/the-meaning-of-your-life

• Arthur’s newsletter: https://www.arthurbrooks.com/newsletter

• The Happiness Scale: https://learn.arthurbrooks.com/the-happiness-scale

• The Pursuit of Happiness with Arthur Brooks: https://www.thefp.com/s/the-pursuit-of-happiness-with-arthur

• From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life: https://www.amazon.com/Strength-Finding-Success-Happiness-Purpose/dp/059319148X

• Your Professional Decline Is Coming (Much) Sooner Than You Think: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/07/work-peak-professional-decline/590650/

• Is happiness U-shaped everywhere? Age and subjective well-being in 145 countries: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7480662

• Creative productivity: A predictive and explanatory model of career trajectories and landmarks: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1997-02113-002

• Charles Darwin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Darwin

• Johann Sebastian Bach: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bach

• ...References continued at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.arthurbrooks.com/office-hours⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠