After earning two academic degrees in journalism and bleeding newspaper ink from my veins for 25 years, I made a career pivot to digital communications.
It didn’t work out as planned. I was fired (for the first time in my life) at age 50.
It could have been the beginning of the end of a once-promising career. Instead, it was the beginning of a series of new beginnings, all requiring increasingly successful career pivots, thanks in part to the books I read.
What follows is my curated list of 10 books to help men and women over age 50 pivot to a place where they are happier, healthier and wealthier than ever before.
Note: I include links for convenience, not for affiliate marketing. I don’t earn a single penny.
10 Books for Career Pivots After 50
Pivot, by Jenny Blake.
Jenny Blake is a former Google executive who ventured out on her own in a mid-career pivot. I like the way she defines what a career pivot means by using a sports metaphor. In basketball, a pivot refers to a player keeping one foot firmly in place while moving the other in any direction to explore passing options. Much like a basketball player, successful pivots start by planting your feet — setting a strong foundation — then scanning the court for opportunities, according to Blake. The key is you stay rooted (if possible) while exploring new options. The most manageable career pivots take your skills and abilities and apply them in a different field where you are valued.
Life Reimagined, by Barbara Bradley Hagerty
Drawing from emerging information in neurology, psychology, biology, genetics, and sociology, Barbara Bradley Hagerty (a friend and former reporter covering religion, like myself) paints an encouraging picture of the potential for midlife health, relationships, spirituality and career success. One good bit of news is there is no empirical evidence of an inevitable “midlife crisis” accepted as fact in the 1960s and 1970s. Maybe not inevitable, but you can take it from me that a midlife career crisis is possible. This book provides scientific and personal insights to escape or altogether avoid such a crisis.
Living Forward, by Michael Hyatt
I procrastinated before doing a rather macabre Michael Hyatt exercise. He had me imagine my funeral as a scene in a movie. When family and friends stand to speak, what would they say? I had to book myself in a local hotel to get focused. Once I got over that chilling image of myself in that open coffin (looking good, mind you), I began to write the script of what I hoped the people most important to me would say. Thinking about my death provided surprising new clarity of what I want in life and where I needed to pivot in my career. From there, I followed Hyatt’s exercises of working backward to create an empowering plan of action.
Find Your Why, by Simon Sinek.
Simon Sinek popularized WHY in a 2009 TED Talk that has garnered 52 million video views (and counting), with subtitles in 48 languages. He talks about a “Golden Circle” of good business: what, why, and how. He argues that organizations need to focus on the “why” of their unique passion for motivating and inspiring action. The book provides steps to find the WHY not just for companies but for individuals. I especially like the fill-in-the-blank format to draft a WHY Statement: “To______ so that ______.” The first blank represents the contribution you make to others. The second blank represents the impact of your contribution. This book is for you if you want to pivot your career to your life’s passion and calling.
Wild at Heart, by John Eldredge.
WARNING: This book will offend some but ignite others. Eldredge says God designed men to be dangerous, to be a hero, to be a warrior. Most men abandon those desires, aided by a society that says they are wrong and a Christianity that feels like nothing more than pressure to be a “nice guy.” Most guys don’t leave their computer screens trying to answer THE masculine question: “Do I have what it takes?” Men get bored, especially at midlife. They need a new risk as much as they fear it. This book inspired me to take some personal risks, including starting a full-time business in my 50s. In the end, it didn’t turn out the way I charted it in my business plan, but I felt fully alive trying. The risky journey through a new jungle took me to unexpected new pivots, places, people and opportunities.
The Purpose Driven Life, by Rick Warren.
Warren’s modern-day classic opens with one of the most memorable first sentences of any book I have ever read: “It’s not about you.” How’s that for a counterintuitive career pivot strategy? A runaway #1 international bestseller, the book has an updated edition with two new chapters. In it, Warren lays out a spiritual journey that asks life’s most important question: “What on earth am I here for?” He suggests you simplify your life to increase your motivation and discover God’s plan for you not only here while you live but in the hereafter. The book is for people of any age, but it’s not a coincidence that the 10th-anniversary printing provides a “Large Print Edition.”
Strengthfinders 2.0, by Tom Rath.
All too often, our natural, God-given talents go untapped. We devote more time to fixing our shortcomings than developing our strengths. That’s a frustrating and ineffective strategy, according to Tom Rath. It’s better to pivot from strength to strength. But what if you don’t know your strengths? To help people uncover their talent DNA, Gallup introduced the first version of its online assessment, StrengthsFinder, in 2001. It ignited a global conversation and helped millions to discover their top five talents. With StrengthsFinder 2.0, you get to take Gallup’s new version of its popular assessment online to identify and rank your strengths categorized into 34 themes.
Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Joshua and Ruth. These are just five people in the Bible who made scary pivots. I like to read these stories because the Bible doesn’t gloss over the challenges, even the failures. That’s inspiring. Job may be the best example. He is famously remembered for sufferings and plagues, losing nearly everything but his faith. You have to read to the last chapter of the Book of Job to learn that God made the last years of Job the best years, more than redeeming the losses. “So the LORD blessed Job in the second half of his life even more than in the beginning. For now, he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 teams of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. — Job 42:12. One math-savvy writer tried to assess how much that would be worth in today’s U.S. currency and arrived at an estimated $56 million!
Essentialism, by Greg McKeown
The author says you must permit yourself to stop trying to do it all, to saying yes to every request, to working until 1 a.m. (as I’m doing right now as I type, oh no). Essentialism is a systematic discipline for discerning what is essential, eliminating everything that is not, and achieving your best. It is the pursuit of less to help you make your career and life pivots. But how? One simple criterion: “If it isn’t a clear yes, then it’s a clear no.” There is also “The 90 Percent Rule.” Evaluate all the options you can spend your time on. Give each a score between 0 and 100, with 100 most essential. Change anything lower than 90 percent to 0 and reject it. Ruthless! Brilliant! Liberating! A great system to focus on what really matters after age 50.
Halftime, by Bob Buford.
The second half of your life can be better than the first! Look at it this way. If you live to be 100, as more and more people do these days, then 50 isn’t the two-minute warning; it’s halftime. In sports, halftime is when you go to the locker room, assess what worked and what didn’t, then make adjustments to your game plan. Bob Buford says it’s a wonderful time to redefine significance. You can develop a fresh mission for serving God and others. An updated and expanded 20th Anniversary edition includes questions for reflection at the end of each chapter and “halftime” stories of people like you enjoying a renewal in their careers and lives. Ongoing programs and coaching are available through the Halftime Institute.
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About me: In addition to my current full-time job as a communications VP for a nonprofit, I have found a satisfying “side gig.” I coach motivated men over age 50 to make pivots to be all God is calling them to be. They discover they can be happier, healthier and wealthier than ever before.
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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Photo credit: Peter van Eijk on Unsplash (Making a successful career pivot after age 50 can make you happier, healthier and wealthier than ever before. )
