Book excerpt: Seventy-five million baby boomers are finding themselves bound by habits and pursuits instigated many years ago - and for a large percentage of those boomers, significant aspects of their lives no longer satisfy. But by joining revolutionary insight to highly proprietary prescriptive advice, The Hourglass Solution provides a proactive and pragmatic way to lead a better life after 50. Johnson and Forman evaluate the life narrative through the lens of an hourglass - proposing that those in early adulthood are at the top of the hourglass, able to select from many options, while those in middle age are in the hourglass's neck, constrained by the choices they made earlier in their lives. The Hourglass Solution explains how those approaching their fifties (and beyond) can still find a wealth of opportunity by recognizing and pursuing new directions, free from the restrictions imposed by an earlier choice. Like Gail Sheehy's Passages before it, The Hourglass Solution will enlighten and inspire a generation of readers to regain control over their lives and well-being.