The Back Forty: 7 Essential Embraces to Launch Life's Radical Second Half
To Celebrate The Launch Of This Seminal Midlife Makeover Book, Which Midwest Book Review Calls
"A Perfectly Timed Tool For Reevaluation Brought On By 'The Great Resignation'"
Enjoy these FREE Inspiring Difference Maker Interviews Below!
Inspiring New Book & Interviews Answering the Question:
"What if your entire life thus far has simply been R & D—just research and development—to set you up for the bigger game you have yet to play?"
Grab Your FREE Back Forty "Setup" Interviews With all the Difference Makers Below. . . Plus Bonuses!
What is a Back Forty "setup" interview?
I ask each of these difference makers this:
How did your first half of life set you up perfectly for your second half/best half of life, to be who you came here to be and do what you came here to do?
- Hear how a first half of drugs and addiction was the necessary gateway to living a life of extraordinary purpose.
- Learn how polio and always feeling "different" than others established a career to change the perception of aging.
- Realize how childhood abuse and other horrors of one's past are the very influences at the heart of impacting lives now!
- And so many other stories that reveal our past as, in a way, perfect for who we came here to be and what we came here to do!
Marshall Goldsmith
Thinkers50’s only two-time winner of #1 Leadership Thinker in the World, the World’s #1 Executive Coach and Top Ten Business Thinker.
Sally Helgesen
Author of How Women Rise, The Web of Inclusion, and The Female Advantage.
Winn Claybaugh
Co-Founder of Paul Mitchell Schools, philanthropist and author of Be Nice or Else.
P.K. Beville
M.S., award-winning geriatric specialist and founder of Second Wind Dreams®, an internationally known nonprofit organization changing the perception of aging through the fulfillment of dreams and offering the patented Virtual Dementia Tour®.
Barbara Waxman
MS, MPA, PCC, coach, gerontologist, speaker, author of Middlescence Manifesto: Igniting the Passion of Midlife.
Mark Goulston, M. D.
Founding member Newsweek Expert Forum and author of Just Listen, the top book in the world on listening.
Burge Smith-Lyons
Founder of Essence of Being®, global motivational speaker & trainer for leadership, empowerment and communication.
Spryte Loriano
Visionary humanitarian, multi-media producer, and creator of the transformational docu-reality TV series AwakeningGIANTS.
Werner Berger
Guinness World Records Holder for Oldest Person in the World to Complete the 7-Summit (Messner-7) at Age 79.
Chellie Campbell
Financial Stress Reduction® Coach and author of The Wealthy Spirit and Zero to Zillionaire.
Trish Carr
Co-founder of Women's Prosperity Network,
international speaker and author of It’s Just a Conversation – What to Say & How to Say it in Business.
Heshie Segal
Founding affiliate of BeeKonnected, Founder of
Kids Better World and CEO of JetNettingConnection.
Sally A. Curtis
Content repurposing strategist for speakers, authors, consultants & coaches, interviewer & show host.
Are you entering or leaving midlife and you’re not sure where to go?
Discover a step-by-step path designed to help you make the most of your second half of life.
In a pandemic-stricken era when many aspects of personal and professional life are up for grabs, grabbing a copy of The Back Forty might be the best insurance you can find for a more purposeful and joyful experience of life ahead.
The Back Forty is both timely and intimately helpful, serving as a trustworthy guide for a powerful midlife makeover. Its spirited message of rejuvenation and inspiration transforms any prevailing personal resignation into momentum toward a fulfilling next phase of life: not only guaranteed but perfectly timed by your own design.
What if your entire life this far has simply been R & D—just research and development—for the bigger game you have yet to play? What if nothing in your past was wasted and your life was actually timed and organized for exactly this moment? What if the only start that matters is the one you make now? You are never who you “are” or who you’ve been. You are who you’re becoming.
In this book, you’ll unearth:
- How to transform significant, victim-laced experiences from the past and present to create a free-flying future
- How to take inventory of current-day gifts and values to awaken to the individual you’ve become and are still becoming
- How to flip the concept of midlife crisis into opportunity and initiation into a second half of your greatest Self-expression
- How to adopt an easy and playful practice of purpose while dropping any heavy and pressured pursuit of it
- How to engage in ego-freeing and availability-enhancing practices to collaborate with a Universal energy at your service and by your side
Whether it’s discovering the purpose for the remainder of your work life or your personal reFirement – to replace any ideas of retirement – The Back Forty points the way to your second half/best half of life.
Watch these Inspiring Interviews and learn more about The Back Forty Now!
What Folks are Saying About This Best-Selling Book, The Back Forty:
"The Back Forty: 7 Essential Embraces to Launch Life's Radical Second Half outlines the basic tenets of an approach to life that maintains that midlife is a time to revise perspectives to reach for new opportunities for growth and fulfillment. It's a welcome antidote to the notion that midlife begins the slow slide into inability and retirement from life, providing readers with an inspirational survey of these opportunities and how they may be realized. Consider it a perfectly timed tool for reevaluation brought on by “The Great Resignation” occurring in today’s world economy.
—Midwest Book Review
“In The Back Forty, Darrell Gurney has laid down an effective and inspiring roadmap for getting deep and insightful with oneself at the midpoint—or any point—of life. Disassembling, recontextualizing and causing one's purposeful life going forward, guided by these seven Embraces, ensures anyone a future of possibilities that weren't going to ‘happen anyway.’ This is indeed radical thinking.”
—Marshall Goldsmith, Thinkers50’s only two-time winner of #1 Leadership Thinker in the World, the World’s #1 Executive Coach and Top Ten Business Thinker
“Yes, your first half of life was simply research and development. This outlines what to do with the second half. Inspiring wisdom for any age, don’t enter or leave midlife without The Back Forty.”
—Chip Conley, New York Times best-selling author of Wisdom @ Work and founder of Modern Elder Academy
“The Back Forty is a testament to the unstoppable spirit in each of us. Darrell Gurney intimately shares his own midlife quest for purpose, stepping beyond fear and doubt to pave the way for himself and each of us to have our second half of life be the best half. This is required reading if you want the next phase of your life to be the best part ever.”
—Cynthia Kersey, best-selling author of Unstoppable and founder of The Unstoppable Foundation
“Through his spiritual daring, Gurney sheds light upon the vital subject of discovering one’s inner wholeness at any age and stage on life’s journey. He moves his readers into a revolution in consciousness: loving ourselves for who we are, for the innate capacities of the heart and soul.”
—Michael Bernard Beckwith, best-selling author of Life Visioning and Spiritual Liberation and founder/spiritual director of The Agape International Spiritual Center
“The Back Forty is an honest, authentic take on how the most challenging moments lead to powerful truths. It provides an opportunity to examine the past like a scientist and experiment with creating mindsets which will set you up for a joyful present and enriching future. As Darrell points out: ‘The only start that matters is the one you make now.’ So true.”
—Barbara Waxman, MS, MPA, PCC, coach, gerontologist, speaker, author of Middlescence Manifesto: Igniting the Passion of Midlife
“Ever run into someone you felt like hitting when you turned forty and they said, "The best is yet to come"? Well, if they ducked when you took a swipe at them and then gave you a copy of The Back Forty, you’d not only thank them but you'd apologize profusely for taking the swing.”
—Mark Goulston, M.D., founding member Newsweek Expert Forum and author of Just Listen, the top book in the world on listening
“The Back Forty is a profound and engaging inquiry into what it takes to expand when society is betting you'll contract. For anyone seeking to clear their path of self-imposed obstacles, habits, behaviors and attitudes so they can build a rich and fulfilling second half of life, The Back Forty serves as a bible of empowerment.”
—Sally Helgesen, author of How Women Rise, The Web of Inclusion, and The Female Advantage
“The Back Forty is a brilliant challenge, rather, a very compelling invitation to live the rest of our lives, regardless of age, at an elevated sense of freedom, joy and achievement - however WE define achievement in OUR OWN lives. In a compelling and fun way, Gurney gently leads you to that definition and lures you into wanting more.”
—Werner Berger, Guinness World Records Holder for Oldest Person in the World to Complete the 7-Summit (Messner-7) at Age 79
"The Back Forty is the perfect book for anyone who wants to make sense of the first half - the front forty - of their life and then figure out what they want in the next half! With clear examples, engaging stories and step-by-step instructions, Gurney shows you how to work through the past and manage your emotional well-being now. You can embrace the supposed 'mistakes' you made and the lessons you learned and, in doing so, design a fabulous future!”
—Chellie Campbell, author of The Wealthy Spirit and Zero to Zillionaire