Master Class: Living Longer, Stronger, and Happier

Terrific book!I'm 58. A few months ago I realized that my daily routine had become way too comfortable and, well, easy. I have a good job that I'm good at. I swim, do yoga or run every day. On weekends I garden, do projects and invite the kids over for Sunday dinner. I love my wife and we are very happy.I also wake up every morning with aches, pains and stiffness. I have a fairly short list of things I like to do and I feel I'm losing my mental edge. I'd just as soon walk away from a political argument than join it, and I give up on the extra hard Sudokus way too quickly.I'm thinking it's time to shake things up a bit, so I headed over to Amazon to search for ideas Turns out there are tons of books related to this. I found books on the aging brain, improving mental activity, and memory, books on improving the social life of empty nesters, books on middle aged "safe" exercise, books on" Happiness Theory" (really?), books on the importance of spirituality, and on and on.As I browsed Amazon, I realized that my real question was one of balance. Is there any guidance as to how much time I should be spending doing exercise, vs. Socializing, vs. challenging my mind, vs. spending time with family etc? Is there a recommended balance of activities that will properly exercise and stimulate my mind, body and spirit?Ultimately my Amazon browsing brought me to this book. It had just been published and there were no reviews but I bought it anyway based on the description. I just finished reading it and started to put its suggestions into daily practice. (learning Japanese and joining a choir).This is not a guru book filled with philosophy and feel-goodisms (although some Gurus are reviewed). This is a book full of concrete advice and exercises that promote a "hosistic blending of socializing, moving, thinking and creating".The prose is clear and straightforward. All in all, it's an excellent and fun read that you will likely find yourself going back to many times.

This is a great book if you live in the United States. I say this because much of the information pertaining to the activities contained in this book are places only found there. Saying that, the reader gets the general idea of substituting these places with one's own local places but the problem with that is actually knowing where these places are. That was half of the attraction that someone had already done the ground work for you. We all know when we get older that we need to involve ourselves with more activities etc but when you don't socialise as much this is a problem. What I do really like about this book is that it encourages people to invest time into a balanced lifestyle and it is this balanced message which I think will resonate with many people.

This book was very good in inspiring me into an active retirement phase my life. Retirement is the a phase that most people only go into once in their life and this book provides guidance into unexplored activities. Like surviving in the corporate world, it's best to have guidance from colleagues and friends or from a book to start. Same goes for surviving retirement.

All the advice in this book is good, but the program is a bit too regimented for me. It also does not take into account that some of us are introverts and that, although some socializing is vital to them, it would actually spoil some of these activities. Spontaneous activities are pretty much left out, and that is unfortunate as well. But overall, it is a plan for a more balanced life in retirement.

I devoured this book, once I got started. It really increased my enthusiasm for this stage of life - while other things about the stage can be "downers". The only thing that kept me from giving it an extra star is that I just haven't started the system. It stimulated a lot of ideas for me, and I have been busy, but not documenting it. I think this would lend itself nicely to a group experience.

this book encouages you to try new things ...better able to write after a month of doing the book. so far its got me thinking and doing things just a little more than yesterday.the master class living longerand happier a plan for retirees.

Great inspiration for retired folks - wonderful resource for those just transitioning from career to retired - !

I am slowly reading your words having been diagnosed with MS 5 years ago. Within 18 months, I went from a cane, to 3 walkers, a wheelchair, scooter, and hopefully this great battery operated wheelchair.Yes,we do lose family and friends, but new friends and great books add SO MUCH!