52 baby steps to Grow Young makes developing healthier thinking, beliefs, and habits incredibly easy. Each of the 52 chapters has an action to take, a rationale for the action, some quotes, and some humor. Each chapter is just two pages and we are asked to only read a chapter a week. Most of these "baby" steps are small and intuitively make sense. Consequently, it is easier to just do it than to debate whether you have the time or energy. Cumulatively, the steps can have a big impact on how you age.

For example, chapter 3 asks us to adopt a belief that we are getting better with age and to look for information to support this belief. Dr. Brickey makes an analogy between our brains and computers. As we age, we develop a vast array of programs, we develop massive amounts of data on our hard drives, and our processing speed slows. Would you really want to trade your rich collection of programs and data for faster processing speed and anemic programs and data? What’s more, with chunked information, older people can often outperform younger people (e.g., a skilled older bridge player will run circles around a bridge player who has only been playing for a few years).

So much of the gerontology literature is negative and depressing. In the spirit of positive psychology, this book prompts positive thinking, actions, and habits. It is an excellent adjunct for growth oriented clients, friends, and clinicians. Dr. Brickey's Oprah-featured first book, Defy Aging, appealed to the serious reader with research, theory, and strategies for living well into your hundreds. 52 baby steps to Grow Young makes the actions to take easy and appealing to busy people. Sample chapters are available at www.52babysteps.com.

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