Start to Finish: A Psychologist's Guide to Living Well, Aging Wisely, and Dying with Dignity

In Start to Finish, health psychologist Robert Lutz explores the universal forces and everyday choices that shape a life well-lived. Drawing on decades of experience as a psychologist, educator, and behavioral medicine specialist, Dr. Lutz shows how our fundamental needs, rooted in our evolution as social beings, still guide the path to meaning, happiness, and fulfillment in the modern world.

With honesty and compassion, he explains how people naturally gravitate toward the places where their interests, abilities, and opportunities align, crafting a life that is "good and full" when effort meets opportunity. Yet he also acknowledges the powerful role of chance, circumstance, and inequality in shaping those paths, reminding us that the playing field is never entirely level and that understanding this truth makes our choices all the more vital.

Combining science and wisdom in clear, accessible language, Start to Finish offers practical steps to manage stress, regulate emotions, think positively, communicate effectively, and maintain mental and physical health. Dr. Lutz also explores how our everyday habits influence longevity, showing how lifestyle and genetics interact to determine our health outcomes. As he writes, "Nature may load the gun, but lifestyle pulls or refuses to pull the trigger."

The book closes with a powerful reflection on aging and end-of-life care. Drawing from his own family's experience with Alzheimer's disease, Dr. Lutz makes a moving case for expanding advance medical directives and rethinking how we approach dying with dignity, honesty, and choice.

Start to Finish is more than a guidebook, it's an invitation to live intentionally, love deeply, and face every stage of life with courage and grace.