The Big Shift

Midlife Opportunity and the Transition to a New Stage of Life

By: Marc Freedman

Narrated by: Walter Dixon

Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

Marc Freedman, hailed by the New York Times as “the voice of aging baby boomers [seeking] meaningful and sustaining work later in life”, makes an impassioned call to accept the decades opening up between midlife and anything approximating old age for what they really are: an entirely new stage of life, which he dubs the encore years.

In The Big Shift, Freedman bemoans the fact that the discussion about longer lives in America has been entirely about the staggering economic costs of a dramatically aging society when, in reality, most of the nation’s 78 million boomers are not getting old - at least not yet. The whole 60- to 80-year-old period is simply new territory, he writes, and the people in this period constitute a whole new phenomenon in the 21st century.

The Big Shift is animated by a simple premise: that the challenge of transitioning to and making the most of this new stage—while deeply personal—is much more than an individual problem; it’s an urgent social imperative, one affecting all generations. By embracing this time as a unique period of life – and providing guidance, training, education, and support to the millions who are in it – Freedman says that we can make a monument out of what so many think of as the leftover years. The result could be a windfall of talent that will carry us toward a new generation of solutions for growing problems in areas like education, the environment, and health care.

©2011 Marc Freedman (P)2011 Gildan Media Corp

How to do third stage of life

Excellent book for spear heading a second half of life. It creates necessary shift needed to make a change.

Only for non-profit encore careers...

What would have made The Big Shift better?

If he had given some examples of people going into FOR-PROFIT encore careers, instead of just into NON-PROFIT, altruistic careers. Doing good for the world is very admirable; however, some of us still need to make money as we get older!

Would you ever listen to anything by Marc Freedman again?

Only if he offers examples of second careers in which I can make money.

What about Walter Dixon’s performance did you like?

I don't remember much, one way or the other

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Yes, I did enjoy the stories of real people he presented; they were just not relevant to my situation.

Any additional comments?

I was hoping this book would offer suggestions from real people about second careers as they age; however, the people he mentioned were all very highly motivated to 'save the world'; some of us can't afford that and must make some money!