Bruce Feiler has long been writing about the stories that give our lives meaning. Recently he began to notice a new pattern: our old stories, with their predictable plot points along linear paths, no longer hold true. The idea that we’ll have one job, one relationship, one source of happiness is hopelessly outdated. Yet many people feel overwhelmed by this change. We’re concerned that our lives are not what we expected; that we’re living life out of order.
Galvanized by a personal crisis and family emergency, Feiler set out on what became an epic journey to harvest American stories and see what he could learn from them. He crisscrossed the country, collecting hundreds of life stories from a breathtaking range of Americans in all 50 states. He then sifted through and coded these stories, building a massive database of patterns and takeaways that can help all of us live better.
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MASTERING TRANSITIONS - Tools and Takeaways for Navigating Uncertain Times
Drawing on the groundbreaking revelations in his new book LIFE IS IN THE TRANSITIONS, Bruce Feiler presents a timely new roadmap for how to transform and reinvent ourselves in times of transition to live with more meaning, balance, and joy. Feiler spent the last seven years collecting life stories of Americans who underwent enormous life changes, then analyzing those stories for patterns and takeaways that are remarkably prescient for the moment we all face today. Mining this rich wellspring of data and stories, Feiler uncovers the greatest emotions we struggle in times of change, the biggest roadblocks to reinventions, the habits we most need to shed, the secrets to being creative in moments of uncertainty. With extraordinary insight and urgency, Feiler introduces a groundbreaking toolkit for flourishing in periods of upheaval and the first new model for navigating life transitions in half a century.
THE POWER OF STORY – How to Harness the Science of Storytelling to Connect, Persuade, and Thrive
We are living in the century of the story. Whether companies, organizations, families, or individuals, all of us are defined—and sometimes trapped—by the narratives we tell. Bruce Feiler has been exploring the stories that bind us—from the ancient world to today’s families—for more than three decades. In this stirring presentation, spanning cutting-edge neuroscience to positive psychology, Feiler offers concrete steps to improve the stories we tell at work, at home, and in life. Both eye-opening and practical, THE POWER OF STORY offers science-backed skills to improve your most important communication.
The Book
LIFE IS IN THE TRANSITIONS
Mastering Change at Any Age
Bruce Feiler, author of the New York Times bestsellers The Secrets of Happy Families and Council of Dads, has long explored the stories that give our lives meaning. Galvanized by a personal crisis, he spent the last few years crisscrossing the country, collecting hundreds of life stories of Americans in all 50 states who’d been through major life changes—from losing jobs to losing loved ones; changing careers to changing relationships; getting sober to getting healthy to simply looking for a fresh start. He then spent a year coding these stories, identifying patterns and takeaways that can help all of us survive and thrive in times of change. READ MORE
