Adult Years

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.

• PrefaceAbout the AuthorProloguePart One: The Emerging Adult1. In Over Our Heads2. Finding Fulfillment in Cyclical LivesTable 1. Linear andCyclical ViewsPart Two: The Renewal Cycle: Life Chapters and LifeTransitions3. 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 Cycle4. Life ChaptersDiagram 3. Phase 1_Dreaming, Planning, andPlateauingDiagram 4. Phase 2_Managing the Doldrums5. Life TransitionsDiagram 5. Phase 3_Cocooning: Coming to Termswith YourselfDiagram 6. Phase 4_Getting Ready for the Next Chapter:A Time for ExperimentingPart Three: The Adult Life Cycle6. 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 Cycle7. The Twenties, Thirties, and Midlife Transition: Breaking Out,Staking Out, and Making It8. The Forties and Fifties: Taking Stock, Individuating, andEnjoying Life9. The Sixties, Seventies, Eighties, and Nineties: The Longest andLeast-Defined Life Phase10. Getting from Here to There: Six Principles of DevelopmentalChangeTable 3. Historical ValuesPart Four: Adults and Global Change11. Valuing the Global Context: The Adult Challenges of theTwenty-First Century12. The Self-Renewing Adult, the Resilient Society: Ten Qualitiesof Self-Renewing Persons13. A New Profession of Adult Mentors and Coaches NotesReading ListIndex

"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