What happens when the old maps for later life no longer fit?
For many people, the years beyond midlife bring freedom alongside uncertainty. Roles fall away, energy shifts, and familiar measures of success begin to lose their hold. Yet much of the conversation about ageing still centres on decline, productivity, or staying busy for as long as possible.
ThriveSpan offers a different perspective.
Written by psychologist and later-life researcher Dr Denise Taylor, this book explores how life can continue to deepen after full-time work, without pressure to reinvent or perform. It draws on psychology, research into meaningful ageing, and reflective practice to consider how wellbeing, agency, connection, creativity, and joy evolve across later life.
Rather than presenting a programme or set of techniques, ThriveSpan is organised around three interwoven paths:
- Self and wellbeing - tending to the body, emotions, rhythm, and inner life
- Connection and contribution - belonging, service, legacy, and what it means to matter beyond work
- Exploration and fulfilment - purpose, creativity, growth, joy, and adapting as the path changes
Throughout the book, you are invited to pause, reflect, and listen for what feels honest in this season of life. The emphasis is not on fixing or optimising, but on alignment, discernment, and living with greater ease.
ThriveSpan is for those who want to approach later life with thoughtfulness, curiosity, dignity, and self-respect. It speaks to people approaching retirement, those already living beyond it, and anyone questioning how to shape a life that still feels meaningful, spacious, and their own.
You may find yourself in these pages if:
- You have stepped away from full-time work and are wondering what comes next
- The idea of "reinventing yourself" no longer feels quite right
- You sense a shift in identity but cannot yet name it
- You want space to reflect rather than pressure to decide
- You are drawn to a quieter, more intentional way of living
Inside ThriveSpan, you will find:
- A thoughtful exploration of the inner and outer changes of later life
- Gentle prompts to support reflection and self-understanding
- A way of making sense of this stage without rushing to fix it
- Language for experiences that are often felt but rarely expressed
This is not a book about ageing well according to external standards.
It is an invitation to walk gently into what matters now.
Taylor, Denise: - Dr Denise Taylor is a Chartered Psychologist, later-life researcher, and internationally published author. She holds a doctorate exploring how people find meaning beyond full-time work, and her research won the Research by a Career Development Professional award in 2024.Her books include Rethinking Retirement for Positive Ageing (Routledge, 2023), Career Coaching for Midlife and Beyond (Trotman, 2025), Find Work at 50+ (Trotman, 2016), and ThriveSpan: Walking Gently Into What Matters Now (Brook House Press). She is a regular contributor to the i Paper and appears frequently across national TV, radio, and podcasts.Through her ThriveSpan philosophy, Denise explores a more conscious path through olderhood, where wellbeing, purpose, and reflection meet. She writes the Substack Ageing Reimagined and divides her time between writing, guiding reflective experiences, and tending her woodland in Gloucestershire.denisetaylor.co.uk
