Every Stage of Life

"At every stage of life, you should be a rookie at something. Midlife can be like Kansas, long and flat. Creating a goal will energize your days."

-- Barbara Bradley Hagerty

Watch Your Thoughts

"It’s harder to hurt when you’re laughing.  Take trouble in stride: A few setbacks are just what the doctor ordered. Watch your thoughts: Your thinking shapes your experience."

-- Barbara Bradley Hagerty

Pivot on Your Strength

"If possible, go for Plan A. And it’s possible more often than not. Pivoting on your strengths beats starting from scratch. Redefine success according to your values, not those of the rest of the world."

-- Barbara Bradley Hagerty

Don't Wait Till Changes Are Forced on You

"“If people don’t take a hard look at what kind of changes they want to make, in the end those changes are going to be forced on them,” Strenger said. “The basic idea is: Don’t wait until the changes are forced on you. Be proactive.”"

-- Barbara Bradley Hagerty

When You Don't Face New Challenges

"“There’s a difference between twenty years of experience and one year of experience twenty times,” he told me. “People do the same thing and they don’t grow. They don’t face new challenges.”"

-- Barbara Bradley Hagerty

Make Yourself a Better Person

"“Find a way to give something of yourself, a piece of your talent, a piece of your goodness,” she said. “Give it back to your world. Give it back to your community. It really makes you feel so wonderful inside. It makes you a better person.”"

-- Barbara Bradley Hagerty

Happy and Supportive Friendships

"Harvard researchers tested and retested the memories of people in their fifties and sixties over six years. Socially active people had less than half the memory loss of those who were less engaged. But quality, not quantity, of friendships matters most. If you have as many bad relationships as good ones, the stress of the bad cancels out the restorative powers of the good, suggesting your brain wants you to cull the herd to include only the happy and supportive friendships." 

-- Barbara Bradley Hagerty

We Are Wired For Friends

"All the research converges on one unshakable imperative: If you want to live a long and healthy life, invest in friends, particularly at midlife. Every evolutionary instinct cries out for trusted companions, and the more the merrier, because the more friends you have, the healthier, happier, and more mentally acute you will be, now and in your later years. We are wired for friends."

-- Barbara Bradley Hagerty