Book review: Smart, Stupid & 60

But would you believe that was almost 20 years ago?

Ten years later, he released Fit, Fifty & Fired Up and Overworked and Underlaid (there's a clue in the title) and on August 16 his latest, Smart, Stupid & 60, will be released.

It's a great way of catching up with the Sydney author since he was quite literally fat, 40 and fired: an overweight, alcoholic mortgage slave struggling to balance a career, marriage and four children under eight. Until he lost his job.

The co-founder of Earth Hour and past CEO of a number of high profile advertising agencies lives in Bronte with his wife and four children and that first book changed his life.

His 2010 speech on life, the universe and everything at Sydney's 2010 TED Conference had an instant global impact and remains Australia's most watched TED talk with well over five million hits. (TED Talks are influential videos from expert speakers on education, business, science, tech and creativity - I had to look it up.)

In Fat, Forty & Fired, Nigel wrote about falling off the corporate hamster wheel and surviving. Now that he's almost 60, he can't help but notice it's been a while since he was asked onto that wheel by other hamsters.

One day he reads that a graduate trainee who used to work for him in London is now a global CEO with an office on the top floor of a skyscraper in New York. Nigel, by contrast, is wearing a dressing-gown and sitting at his writing desk in a dank storage room under his garage in Sydney.

"Some people think it's terrible working in my dank garage," Nigel said. "I don't - I'm happy and I wouldn't want it any other way. I'm not going back to the advertising world.

"There are so many people out there who hate what they're doing work-wise. They will tell you they cry in the car on the way to the office. Life shouldn't be like that."

Could it be that Nigel's most successful days are behind him? Or is conventional success simply that - conventional success?

And is it possible that his happiest days lie ahead? Well, he thinks so.

Ten years on from Fat, Forty and Fired, Nigel Marsh stepped off the hamster wheel (again) to grapple with these and other less weighty questions, like: Where the hell has my wife left the cordless phone? and How do I dress my daughter as a bridge for school in 10 minutes?

Written with Nigel's customary humour and honesty, Fit, Fifty & Fired Up was a must-read for anyone who's ever dreamt of taking a risk to live a life they feel passionate about.

He said at the time: "One year after my epiphany I was basically the same man. Sober and slimmer but the same man. Ten years later, however, I am a completely different man with a completely different life. And trust me, if I can do it I promise you can."

So, 20 years down the track and Smart, Stupid & 60 (William Heinemann Australia, August 16, $34.99) is a life-affirming celebration of life's third trimester as a privilege to be enjoyed rather than a sentence to be endured.

In his memoir for his sixth decade on earth, Nigel ponders ageing well, sex, parenting adult children, his parents' passing, and the secret to his living a happy life.

"I can't wait for my third trimester," he said. "It's a privilege to be enjoyed rather than a sentence to be endured. It's something to celebrate.

"I was 40, fat, an alcoholic and I had four kids. I found the perfect balance by making the choices I made. Many haven't.

"When you get to 60, you have atleast 30 years left. It is a privilege and I feel euphoric about the years ahead. I have been very lucky.

"Life is like white water and all my horizons have exploded. As I get closer to 60, I hope I can be as joyous as I was in my 20s.

"I'm not telling anyone how to live their lives. No way.

"I'm telling them what I'm doing but it is nice to have someone tell you your book changed their path in life."

So, what next? Well, only the next decade will tell until something about his 70s is published.

Lessons learned along the way:

"First, I learned that most people overestimate what they can achieve in a year and underestimate what they can do in ten.

Second, having a successful career and an old age full of regret is not a smart trade.

Third, there is always hope. I have never seen a situation that couldn't be improved.

Fourth, it's a waste of energy chasing the Attention, Affirmation and Approval of other people. They don't give it to you. And even if they do it doesn't last. In the three weeks after I stopped drinking I was a hero. Three months later I was simply the boring bastard who drank orange juice. Jesse Owens summed it up perfectly when he said: 'The only victory that counts is the victory over yourself.'

Fifth, meaningful personal change is hard and not about the glory moments. Getting in shape for that appearance on Oprah is ultimately pointless if four months later you have put all the weight back on. As Chekov said: 'Any idiot can face a crisis. It's day-to-day living that's the real challenge.' Which is really the whole point of Fit, Fifty and Fired-Up. Can I be the type of man, husband and father I want to be for the rest of my life, not just have a fabulous year off?

That brings me to the sixth and biggest lesson: it's the small things consistently applied over time that matter and make the difference."