Written by Arthus Brooks, published in 2022. Summary and review.

From Strength to Strength is a book by Arthur Brooks that explores how individuals can find purpose, happiness, and fulfillment in their lives by focusing on their strengths and values. It starts out quite depressing, especially for someone “middle aged”. Basically accept the fact that the best is behind you, physically and mentally. But it does shine light on two types of brain power.

Brooks argues that people should build on their existing strengths rather than constantly trying to fix their weaknesses. He emphasizes the importance of cultivating virtues such as love, faith, hope, and gratitude to lead a more meaningful life. He focuses hard on the faith part… which is not exactly my cup of tea.

The book encourages readers to pursue a path of personal growth and self-improvement by harnessing their strengths and aligning them with their deepest values and aspirations. Overall, it provides guidance on how to live a more fulfilling and purpose-driven life. Or, it’s supposed to. I felt as though the back cover over hypes the actual delivery.

I’d argue this can be summed up with have faith and friends. Not exactly earth shattering. A little fascinating his categorization of brain functions. Fluid intelligence is the ability to think flexibly and reasonably, to be creative, and to solve novel problems. This is the one you lose early and is best left for youngens. Crystallized intelligence is “the ability to use a stock of knowledge learned in the past”. This is the advantage of the older folks… though apparently it only applies to certain jobs. Again, sort of depressing.

TLDR: Over-hyped. Some helpful bits, but nothing I particularly liked other than the difference. Self-help, better yourself type books all seem to have similar themes. There are better options out there. Can’t Recommend. 2/5 Stars.