Still Wondering What You’ll Do With Your Life?
Hitting your 40th, 50th, 60th or 70th birthday can be frightening. There is no question that things are different in midlife and beyond. But if you fear it’s too late for your big dreams, you have some reading to do — because it’s not. In fact, most dreams will become easier to achieve now.
This is our eleventh Barbara Sher book club, a chance to read one of Barbara Sher’s books, do all the exercises, and discuss them with book club members all over the world. For 16 weeks, as you read and work through this exciting and unusual book, you will share what you’re learning about this new stage of your life with others who are having similar experiences. Fresh insights will come as others in your group share their experiences and you’ll open a deeper understanding of how it all applies to you. The combination of exciting reading and the chance to meet regularly to discuss it will make this book club a wonderful experience.
Sounds great, doesn’t it? But where will you find the time?
That’s the blessing of an online program: you’ll discover the convenience of attending class whenever you want, in whatever you’re wearing, with no travel time or traffic to contend with.
You’ll experience this life-changing book in a new way, and make friends with fascinating men and women from all walks of life. Do the exercises when you have time, never rushing or hurrying.
But will you have the same kind of closeness as an in-person book club could give you? Hard to believe if you haven’t done it, but the answer is yes — perhaps even more. Why? Because you can comment whether you’re shy or outgoing. You can ask questions about anything you don’t understand. You’ll be able to help your new friends. You’re going to love it.
Join us for this next book club, starting on February 8th. For sixteen weeks, we’ll share Barbara Sher’s guide to living a life you love after 40, It’s Only Too Late If You Don’t Start Now: How to Create Your Second Life at Any Age. Together, we’ll read every word. We’ll do all the exercises. And we’ll share it with each other on password-protected, members-only web pages.
Your Guide: Patty Newbold, Sher Success Teams Director
Patty has been a Success Teams Leader since 2004 and director of the Sher Success Teams program for the past four years. She helped Barbara launch her WriteSpeak program and worked side-by-side with her at three WriteSpeak retreats and online since 2015. If you’re a member of Hanging Out, you know her as Webmaster, the MIT alum who figures out all the techie stuff Barbara hates being bothered with. She’s a full-blooded Scanner who’s had a great Scanner career and lots of hobbies, and thanks to many of her MIT pals, she really gets Divers, too. And she celebrated her 40th birthday over 25 years ago.
Here’s what people said about Patty’s role in our book clubs for I Could Do Anything and Refuse to Choose:
By the way, Patty…I want to give you the highest praise I know…you so often sound so much like Barbara! It makes me get a huge smile on my face and then I imagine Barbara getting a huge smile on her face when she reads what you have written and then that makes me have an even more huge smile on my face. —LisaMancelyn
“Welcome back, Patty:) I’ve missed knowing you’re out there, — processing, responding, and CARING so much about all of us. —Amy M.”
I also want to say that with each of these exercises that I work on being honest with myself and devoting time, energy and thought I can feel myself understanding (finally!), growing emotionally, and changing inside….Thanks a million to Barbara for designing them, to Patty for her support and to everyone in the Club for reading, or just for being there. —Alicia
The It’s Only Too Late If You Don’t Start Now Book Club
We begin on Thursday, February 8, 2018. If you don’t sign up by 11:55 pm NY time on the 7th, it’s likely to be a year or two before your next opportunity. We’ll read part of the book and do the exercises in it every week for sixteen weeks. We’ll finish up on Wednesday, May 30, 2018.
We’ll meet here on this website, discussing in written form each chapter and each exercise. You can choose how often to check in each week, how much you want to participate and when.
We expect a lot of members, but everyone will be assigned to a discussion group of 35 members or so, which turns out to be the perfect group size. If you bring in your friends to join at the same time you can be in the same group. (But don’t wait until the last minute, as the last group could be smaller or larger than the others.)
You will need a copy of It’s Only Too Late If You Don’t Start Now to work from. Choose the hard cover, the paperback or the Kindle edition, whatever suits your reading style. You’ll receive an email (optional) each Thursday with a reminder of the week’s assignments, or you can look them up in your Member Profile on this site. To share in the comments left by the other members of your book club group, you can subscribe to be emailed each comment as it appears. Or, you can choose to visit each week’s pages and read them all at once.
Register by February 7th
No one admitted after 11:55 pm February 7th (NY time)
Money back guarantee throughFebruary 14, 2018
$77 for all 16 weeks
Contact webmaster@barbarasclub.com if you encounter any problems with payment or if you don’t receive two emails from us within an hour after paying.
It’s Only Too Late If You Don’t Start Now: How to Create Your Second Life at Any Age
Is this the right book club for you?
- YES if you’re a coach or want to be one. Barbara Sher knows more than almost anyone in the world about living a life you love after 40. You cannot get the tools and perspectives in this book anywhere else.
- YES if you’re approaching or past your 40th birthday and trying to figure out how to craft a life that you love or still looking forward to going after more of your dreams.
- YES if you got distracted from actually finishing It’s Only Too Late If You Don’t Start Now or putting into practice what you learned the first time you read it.
- YES if you are drawn to help others who are older than you and facing different challenges.
- YES if you get more out of exercises when you do them with other people.
- YES if you are isolated and don’t know a lot of other over-40 dreamers like you.
- NO if you are still hoping to have kids or more kids or take your current career to greater heights.
- NO if you believe a positive attitude is the best way to real results. (If you ever went to school, held down a job or raised a child, you know the reality: you did it with whatever attitude you woke up with each day.)
What can you expect to gain from the It’s Only Too Late If You Don’t Start Now book club? Well, here are what members of our I Could Do Anything and Refuse to Choose Book Clubs said:
This has really been an eye-opening week for me. I hadn’t realized how engrained many of these messages were inside of me. And how many of them still play out to this day….It’s tough work, but I feel so much more motivated doing this as a group than being a lone, unsupported wolf. I love reading what all of you have to share. —Angela
“I never would have completed the exercises without this book club!” —Beverley Anne
I’m so glad the book club was started, because I wouldn’t have done the exercises either & I find they are super helpful. The book stand alone is amazing but I think the transformation is in the exercises and doing them in your head when you are reading & calling it done like I do with soooo many books — doesn’t really cut it. —Aeryn
As a first step (also prompted by this book club – I must add), I have four events planned per month at my house for the next six months. The flyer went out two weeks ago with a reminder email a couple of days ago….Thanks Barbara for writing this book. I am in ACTION! —Ruth
Hi…i am wow’ed. I wish I could take time off and do nothing but CATCH UP…darn it! I now want to read and participate in this terrific club and its members 24-7!!!!!! —Maria-Franziska
I am a “little behind” the rest of the group. But – it’s for a good reason. It has – OMG wow …. amazing … yowsa … have I been having some epiphanies! I am literally having some Good weeping moments here. I have done several (as I’m sure many of the group has) “self-help”/introspective programs. Nothing touches this. —Pat
“Thank goodness for this book club. I’m inspired by the stories and visions of others here to find out and do something about it.” —Christine
This course is proving invaluable in not only making me appreciate how blessed I am but also how much I can do to refine and further enhance my life – and connecting with this group is wonderful <3 … THANK YOU for creating this book club. —Stephanie
Many of the things I’ve written here I’ve never told anyone else in full, as the context wasn’t available (as in therapy, other workshops, or even in a journal). The questions by Barbara Sher are so well formed that it pulls our insights out and enables us to more see the whole and make more sense of. Loving it too! —Patricia
This is your chance. The doors close at 11:55 pm EDT on February 7th and the Book Club begins on February 8th. Patty’s ready to introduce you to a lot of great people and take you through the entire book. And the earliest we can possibly offer this again is 2019. Sign up now and start changing your life. You owe your gifts to the rest of us. We owe you the support you need to find those gifts and do what you were born to do next.
Register by February 7th
No one admitted after 11:55 pm February 7th (NY time)
Money back guarantee through February 14, 2018
$77 for all 16 weeks
Contact webmaster@barbarasclub.com if you encounter any problems with payment or if you don’t receive two emails within an hour after paying.
Today is Monday, March 9th and I need to get the book, which I will arrange now. Do I understand that not necessary to have read the whole book to begin?
Also, the interactions are all online and not via telephone, yes?
Thanks.
We will take 16 weeks to read the book, Glo, starting on March 12th. A good portion of our first week’s reading (the Introduction and Chapter 1) is included in Amazon’s free Look Inside for the book.
And yes, all of our interactions are online. We will not meet by telephone. Our groups often have members from 7 or 8 widely separated time zones.
Sad to say that I dropped out of the last book club event. The system for leaving comments, logging in and a few other issues seemed clunky and buggy. It was just too frustrating to deal with. Also, there were some comments published to all that I felt should not have been which meant wading through comments not relevant to all except the sender. Any improvements that might inspire a second whack at this?
Thanks
Retiscent, the system for leaving comments is just like these comments here. We have a page for each exercise so that all the comments on a page are about the same exercise. Because we are reporting our experiences with each exercise, there should be a comment from each member of the group on each page, and at least one encouraging or helpful reply to each report from another member of the group.
Unlike an in-person book club where the loudest or quickest to speak members dominate the discussion, everyone gets to share in an online book club. It does make for a lot of comments, and I encourage all members replying to someone else to use their name in the comment, which will then appear in the email notices of new comments for those who choose to subscribe to them.
The login system is pretty straightforward and necessary to keep your comments unavailable to search engines or prying eyes. Only your group can see them. Unless you’re using a public computer, you can stay logged in for two weeks at a time. We have an automated password lookup program and a webmaster ready to help anyone with more complex login problems.
Dear Barbara & team,
I’d like your advice. I am German and I am going to join the book club, but I wonder whether I should be attending the English or the German one.
The reason why I am asking is this: I am going to read the book in English and would also like to be able to access the book club material in English, because I just love your language, Barbara, and the way how you put your thoughts and ideas into words that are beautifully clear and simple. Even though my English is far from perfect, I find your books and videos easy to follow, and I enjoy the elegance and efficiency of the English language. The German versions of your books are good, but the German language is quite different in its grammar and vocabulary, so simple sentences often end up more complicated and lenghty when translated. I also love to know that every word I read or hear comes straight from the source and directly conveys your unique personality.
On the other hand, however, I very much like to attend the German club because I am German after all. I can express myself better in German and I am also looking forward to meeting fellow Germans, people who live in the same part of the world and to which I expect to be able to relate more closely. Heck, I should even be able to meet some of them in person because our country is so small. This might help me a lot in making most of the book and the book club membership.
So which book club should I enroll into?
Arndt, the German book follows the English one very closely. It skips only one of the 32 exercises. You should be able to read in English and discuss in German as a member of the German club if you adjust exercise numbers after Exercise 9.
Thanks a lot, Patty! I just enrolled into the German book club as you suggested. (y) Looking forward to seeing you there!
I have a one year old baby, but don’t intend to have any more children. I’m 40 the day the book club finishes- but don’t feel on the verge of a midlife crisis. I’m pretty sure I’m a scanner. Is this book club for me or will one come up for refuse to choose come up soon?
Many thanks
We will do another Refuse to Choose book club this year, Rachel. It’s Only Too Late If You Don’t Start Now does not have much to say about a Scanner life. It’s about life after Nature sets you free, which may involve one dream or many.
Dear Barbara,
I would like to be part of the book club. Is it better in english or german?
What do I have to do now?
Best wishes
Nicole
Hi, Nicole. Glad to see you made your choice. The exercises in Barbara’s books invite us to tackle some interesting inner work. I think this is best done in our most comfortable language.
Dear Patty, Dear Barbara,
I would love to sign up…but, I am already TWO book clubs behind as well as HO! So, I’d better not!
Congratulations on this achievement. It’s great stuff and I am missing out, I know.
All the Best,
Maria
If you’re still doing the exercises in the other two books, you are not missing out at all, Maria.
Hi Patty,
I think I messed up. I put my email address in at the bottom of the payment info field as I thought that it was just for sending the confirmation, but then there was no other email address field, so I put a note on the bottom of the payment field (in the box) giving my daughter’s name and email address and saying it was a gift subscription. I also sent an email to the webmaster address as you suggested so hopefully it will work. If you are able to check it, could you please make sure that it is her email address that gets put in the participant list and not mine. All details are in the email sent to the webmaster address. Thanks so much.
She’s all set up now, Sally.
Patty, these questions are for you. Question 1. How can I buy membership in this book club for my daughter as a gift? Question 2. Can you tell me how I can join a success team in my area? Question 3. Is there a training workshop available to train people to become success team leaders?
Great questions, Sally. To buy a gift membership for your daughter, just sign up as if you’re buying a membership for yourself and send an email with her name and email address to webmaster@barbarasclub.com. Don’t click on the email that confirms you want the weekly emails sent to you. We’ll send her both the how to log into your new account email and the confirmation email as soon as we set up up account and transfer your payment to it. If you are joining, too, join twice and DO click on that email confirmation link for yourself.
Check http://shersuccessteams.com/findateam.htm for the email address of a leader in your area. Hover your mouse over the leader’s name to see the address. Click to open an email to the address. Or right-click (Cmd-click) to copy the address. If there is none in your area, just reply to this comment and I’ll send you an email.
When you buy a Success Teams leader kit (http://shersuccessteams.com/), you get everything you need to run a practice team for eight weeks (16 hours). You’ll print out the workbooks, play the audio clips recorded by Barbara, and participate as a member. Unless your team members complain, we consider you ready then to start leading teams for money. You can continue to use all of the recordings or start playing a more active role, as long as you run them as Barbara designed them. You can promote your teams to everyone within an hour from your home. As you gain experience and meet the local need for teams, you can add other locations or possibly join our Success Teams by Phone group.
Thanks Patty. Great info.
Hey Barbara,
this book club is different from what we do in our coaching? Or do we do work with the content in the book in our class any way? Is it two different pairs of shoes?
Best wish es
Nicole
Hi Nicole
Once you’ve gone through this book you’ll be an expert on coaching people who have as their problem, the fact that they feel ‘old’ too soon. There aren’t many coaches who handle that problem properly.
But, for the most part, this book is for you, or someone you love. It’s nothing like any of my other books. It’s about all the illusions we hang on to after we reach the age of 40 and how it takes 15 or 20 years to get past them on your own. This book intends to save you those years by showing you what’s *really* going on.
Hello Barbara,
thank you for answering so soon. I guess it could be something for me… I will think of it another day.. then, decide to join or not..
Do I have to be there on a frequent base or is it ok, if I leave some dates out? Yet I am struggeling with my shift, what is holding me back from doing so many nice things, I could do..
I just hope the other job will turn out to be my new donkey, with every weekend of and a very human shift only 😉
Have a nice day,
nicole
Hi, Nicole! Some post comments after they complete each exercise and subscribe to comments so they can reply right away to what their fellow members have to say. But this level of activity is not required. We ask members to show up at least once a week to share what they get out of the exercises and readings and reply to some of the comments from others.
We understand time off for illness and work crunches and weddings and moves. You just catch up as soon as you can.
This isn’t the same as Wishcraft, is it? Should I add this one to my ( fairly non-functioning) Hanging Out – then maybe my HO will be more productive?
Alex, this book is different from Wishcraft. It’s about our fear that it’s too late now for what we long to do. Barbara says our first life (basically before age 40) belongs to nature, but our second life belongs to us. She helps us let go of some of the unhelpful stuff we’re hanging onto from that first life, then helps us go after what we really want in our second life. It’s helped a lot of people through a midlife crisis or just get going after a late start on a dream.
Thanks, Patty. I’ve signed up anyway. Reading your reply to Nicole about subscribing to leave comments etc. how do I do that or will I not be able to do that until the book club launches/opens?