The Adult Years

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

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