The Search For Fulfillment

In the fall of 1966, at a university in the Northeast, 350 students signed up for a psychological survey on personal development and happiness. In 1977, Susan Krauss Whitbourne, then a young psychology professor, came across the study and decided to expand it. She tracked down the study's original participants and questioned them every decade until she had forty years' worth of data. Now, in this groundbreaking book, Whitbourne reveals the findings of this extensive project, a seminal piece of research into how people change over the course of their lifetimes. The results indicate something fascinating: No matter how old or how content you might currently feel, it is never too late to steer your life toward a greater sense of purpose and satisfaction. Western society often paints a pessimistic view of aging, a "best years are behind you" attitude. But Whitbourne challenges this notion and posits that it's possible to find fulfillment at any age. Guided by her research, she identifies five different life pathways and provides a questionnaire that will help you discover which one you are currently on: bull; The Meandering Way You have a low sense of identity, lack priorities, and feel lost, unable to settle on a clear set of goals. bull; The Downward Slope You seem to have it all, until one or two poor decisions send your life into a spiral. bull; The Straight and Narrow Way You embrace predictability, shy away from risk, and don't enjoy shaking up your routine. bull; The Triumphant Trail Your inner resilience has allowed you to overcome significant challenges that could have left you despondent. bull; The Authentic Road You take a bold and honest look at your life, assess whether it's truly satisfying, and take the necessary risks to get back on track. Whitbourne shows how you can work yourself off a negative pathway and onto one that is more fulfilling. And if you identify yourself as being on one of the more positive pathways, you'll learn how to keep enhancing your feelings of satisfaction. Filled with insight and candid personal profiles of Whitbourne's subjects,The Search for Fulfillmentoffers proof that change is not only possible but ultimately rewarding. Revolutionary and inspirational, this encouraging book provides a new way of looking at our lives-and a guidepost for making changes for the better, at any age.

We know guilt, if at all, by the message of badness that it seems to communicate to us. LeRoy Aden notes that our tendency is to silence the message, when in fact we need to listen to our guilt feelings carefully. A better understanding of the nature and operation of guilt and guilt feelings will help us evaluate the negative and the positive roles that they play in our search for fulfillment. In this book Aden examines real-life situations as well as literary works to illuminate the concrete details of this struggle with guilt and guilt feelings. He finds that sense of guilt can warn us when we lose our way and can put us back on the road to restored relationships and genuine fulfillment when we heed its call.

In the fall of 1966, at a university in the Northeast, 350 students signed up for a psychological survey on personal development and happiness. In 1977, Susan Krauss Whitbourne, then a young psychology professor, came across the study and decided to expand it. She tracked down the study's original participants and questioned them every decade until she had forty years' worth of data. Now, in this groundbreaking book, Whitbourne reveals the findings of this extensive project, a seminal piece of research into how people change over the course of their lifetimes. The results indicate something fascinating: No matter how old or how content you might currently feel, it is never too late to steer your life toward a greater sense of purpose and satisfaction. Western society often paints a pessimistic view of aging, a "best years are behind you" attitude. But Whitbourne challenges this notion and posits that it's possible to find fulfillment at any age. Guided by her research, she identifies five different life pathways and provides a questionnaire that will help you discover which one you are currently on: • The Meandering Way You have a low sense of identity, lack priorities, and feel lost, unable to settle on a clear set of goals. • The Downward Slope You seem to have it all, until one or two poor decisions send your life into a spiral. • The Straight and Narrow Way You embrace predictability, shy away from risk, and don't enjoy shaking up your routine. • The Triumphant Trail Your inner resilience has allowed you to overcome significant challenges that could have left you despondent. • The Authentic Road You take a bold and honest look at your life, assess whether it's truly satisfying, and take the necessary risks to get back on track. Whitbourne shows how you can work yourself off a negative pathway and onto one that is more fulfilling. And if you identify yourself as being on one of the more positive pathways, you'll learn how to keep enhancing your feelings of satisfaction. Filled with insight and candid personal profiles of Whitbourne's subjects, The Search for Fulfillment offers proof that change is not only possible but ultimately rewarding. Revolutionary and inspirational, this encouraging book provides a new way of looking at our lives—and a guidepost for making changes for the better, at any age.

Argues that happiness can be a learned and cultivated behavior, explaining how every person possesses at least five of twenty-four profiled strengths that can be built on in order to improve life.

For readers who have achieved things in life but don't know how to enjoy them, this is a highly practical self-improvement book with a prescriptive program for how readers can live life to the fullest. Joe Robinson is one of the world’s experts on the balance of work life and down time. He writes that life satisfaction is more likely to come from your nonprofessional life than from your job, and that the happier you are in your personal life the more likely you are to be productive in all aspects of your life. Robinson’s new book, drawing on the latest research in positive psychology, focuses primarily on what to do outside of your work life--in your down time--to make sure you have a fully rounded life. The book includes action steps and exercises to help you create a path to a happier, more fulfilled life.

From composer, musician, and philanthropist Peter Buffett comes a warm, wise, and inspirational book that asks, Which will you choose: the path of least resistance or the path of potentially greatest satisfaction? You may think that with a last name like his, Buffett has enjoyed a life of endless privilege. But the son of billionaire investor Warren Buffett says that the only real inheritance handed down from his parents was a philosophy: Forge your own path in life. It is a creed that has allowed him to follow his own passions, establish his own identity, and reap his own successes. In Life Is What You Make It, Buffett expounds on the strong set of values given to him by his trusting and broadminded mother, his industrious and talented father, and the many life teachers he has met along the way. Today’s society, Buffett posits, has begun to replace a work ethic, relishing what you do, with a wealth ethic, honoring the payoff instead of the process. We confuse privilege with material accumulation, character with external validation. Yet, by focusing more on substance and less on reward, we can open doors of opportunity and strive toward a greater sense of fulfillment. In clear and concise terms, Buffett reveals a great truth: Life is random, neither fair nor unfair. From there it becomes easy to recognize the equal dignity and value of every human life—our circumstances may vary but our essences do not. We see that our journey in life rarely follows a straight line but is often met with false starts, crises, and blunders. How we push through and persevere in these challenging moments is where we begin to create the life of our dreams—from discovering our vocations to living out our bliss to giving back to others. Personal and revealing, instructive and intuitive, Life Is What You Make It is about transcending your circumstances, taking up the reins of your destiny, and living your life to the fullest.

Women and identity -- The pathmakers -- A pathmaker and her daughter--and a pathmaker who lost her way -- The guardians -- The searchers -- The drifters -- A drifter who created a path -- Paths to fulfillment: reflections on adult growth and development in women -- Afterword