If you’re looking for the Reader’s Digest version of the book’s premise, this cover story in The Atlantic on “How to Want Less” covers the bases, or you could check out this one, “The Kind of Smarts You Don’t Find in Young People,” which features an MEA mention, and speaks to why we need “wisdom workers” in the workplace, especially in Silicon Valley.

Arthur’s work is so simpatico with all four of MEA’s core curriculum components—reframing aging, developing a growth mindset, mastering transitional intelligence (TQ), and welcoming a regenerative approach to one’s life and the world. However, a conversation I had with him two years ago most resonates with me. He talked about the “winner’s curse”—the reason that people who do well in life often suffer the most as they age. Trying to hang on forever (especially to success) is an exercise in frustration and futility.

Arthur also said this to me in an interview: “If we can detach ourselves from our self-concept as ‘success machines’— a self-concept that is nothing more than self-objectification—it opens up time and energy for new avenues of personal growth and excellence. Walk away from the old life on your terms; turn toward serving others; lean into your spiritual life; and build your root system with family and friends."

This is the recipe for a happy, purposeful, and healthy later life.