New Book “Designing Your Second Act” Reveals How to Create Meaning and Confidence Beyond Full Time Work

Retirement is a life-changing event, yet many underestimate the profound impact of this transition. While this newfound freedom can feel exciting at first, the sheer amount of time and choice can quickly become overwhelming, leaving many asking, “What do I do now?” According to the 2025 Money and Happiness in America survey from retirement author Wes Moss, as reported in Forbes, happy retirees spend more time on activities they enjoy and find meaningful than unhappy retirees, highlighting that identifying and pursuing these activities can make all the difference to later-life satisfaction. So, why is retirement planning still so often focused on finances and practicalities, rather than the wider shift and possibilities of life beyond work?

This question is at the heart of Designing Your Second Act: How to Create Meaning and Confidence Beyond Full-Time Work (Productivity Press), the empowering new book by seasoned executive and founder of Next Chapter Life Design, Tammy Martins. Reframing retirement as a bridge to a purposeful new chapter, not a cliff or an endpoint, Martins provides a much-needed flexible roadmap that invites readers to rediscover themselves and deliberately design the enriching second act they deserve.

When reflecting on more than 20 years of experience devising resilient business systems, Martins recognized that the iterative principles used to drive effective organizational transformation could also help people reinvent and build fulfilling lives. With this in mind, the book synthesizes design thinking, Lean management principles, continuous improvement, adult development theory, scientific research, and stories from individuals navigating major transitions to introduce a structured Life Design framework. Crafted for mid and later-career professionals, the framework culminates in the Life Design Playbook™ – a single-page living plan that brings together the book’s practical tools and models so readers are equipped to translate them into action and refine along the way.

Packed with reflective exercises and real-life examples, this hands-on, interactive guide teaches readers how to imagine, prototype, and implement a second act that fits their values, personality, strengths, and aspirations. Martins intentionally covers both the how and the why of building a retirement grounded in agency, showing readers how to identify their current state and what energizes them, craft their plan, and put their ideas into practice through small experiments using the IDEA Cycle™.

Martins keenly demonstrates that retirement is not linear, nor is there only one option. Designing Your Second Act outlines a variety of retirement paths, such as phased retirement and portfolio career, explores how to evaluate the three foundational areas of health, wealth, and purpose needed to form a stable retirement, and offers strategies for when things do not go to plan. Furthermore, Martins shows employers how they too can support positive retirement experiences and makes the case for why retaining access to some of their most experienced and knowledgeable workers is a sound business decision.

Whether actively preparing for retirement, facing it unexpectedly, or simply keen to make the most of the years ahead, Designing Your Second Act is the ideal roadmap for moving forward with intention and confidence. With Martins’ tried-and-tested tools and encouraging guidance, readers can continue to leverage their talents, adapt as life changes, and create a rewarding retirement on their own terms.

Designing Your Second Act is available on Amazon and in all good bookshops from the 4th November 2026.