In the book “Start to Finish: A Life Well-Lived,” Dr. Robert Lutz draws on his decades of experience as a Psychologist, Educator, and Behavioral Medicine Specialist to deliver on the premise of the book’s title.
In Start to Finish, Lutz “starts” by reviewing the core needs and motivations honed by our millions of years living in small, cohesive groups as hunters and gatherers, to the power of our choices and the ability to meet those needs today, while acknowledging the fundamental role luck plays in how life unfolds. And his book “finishes” with elucidating the incredible diversity in how we age as a function of lifestyle differences… describing the ten keys to successful aging and culminating with end-of-life care and decisions. In between, he weaves the power and how-to steps for positive thinking, effective communication, and healthy living. It’s a life well-lived, from start to finish, and the choices and forces that shape it.
Lutz invites readers to explore the choices and forces that shape our lives with compassion and honesty. He doesn’t shy away from the realities of life and explains how factors outside our control, including the circumstances we’re born into, play a fundamental role in how life unfolds.
“Some children get all the opportunities, help, and support they need to succeed in school and in life. Others with similar hopes and needs aren’t so lucky”.
He notes that the pursuit of a good, full, and healthy life doesn’t rest on a level playing field, making our choices and efforts all the more critical. With kindness and facts at his disposal, he describes how people gravitate to where their abilities, interests, and opportunities lie, “choosing the best available option” and creating a path forward to a good life for everyone as long as opportunity exists and is paired with effort.
Lutz provides a thoughtful review of the broad literature on common ingredients to high life satisfaction and optimal health, and why self-defeating behaviors commonly occur. Lutz’s writing feels like a thoughtful conversation rather than a lecture. He uses easily relatable and informative examples. He explains how limbic system processing can affect our everyday decision-making, like the inner conflict between wanting to eat healthy but craving pizza in the moment. He then describes concrete steps people can take to make their goal pursuits easier and more successful. His writing is insightful, compassionate, and motivational.
Lutz closes his book with a review of the choices and forces that affect a life well-lived, along with an examination of the dramatic variability in how people age. He notes that in times past, people died younger on average and most often from infectious disease. Not anymore, he notes, not since breakthroughs in antibiotics and vaccines. Unlike in centuries past, Lutz notes that the common causes of death and disability are now degenerative diseases that are heavily influenced by lifestyle. Providing insights into how genetics and lifestyle interact to affect health, Lutz offers practical steps to maintain health and well-being throughout old age.
In his final chapter on End-of-Life care, Dr. Lutz offers personal experiences and opinions on the complexities and sometimes grim realities of end-of-life care. Revealing his own strong family history of Alzheimer’s Disease, he doesn’t shy away from some of the inherent shortcomings in our long-term care options and his opinions on what should change.
Why This Book Matters Now?
Inequality in our society is enormous and increasing. Lutz’s thoughtful review of the fundamental role luck plays in how life unfolds helps reveal this societal problem, while also pointing toward why and how we can provide a better safety net and help those who are starting at an obvious disadvantage.
With an aging population, a thoughtful discussion of long-term care needs and choices is needed. With compassion, direct experience, and a strong family history of Alzheimer’s Disease, Lutz describes the practical and emotional complexity of meeting long-term care needs and offers his personal thoughts on expanding advanced medical directives. Grab yourself a copy today by visiting Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other retail outlets, or sending an email to support@authorcentralsupport.com.
