Live Life in Crescendo

What if the best years of your life were still to come? In Live Life in Crescendo, Stephen R. Covey and his daughter Cynthia Covey Haller argue that your greatest contributions, purpose, and joy are never behind you—but always ahead. Through heartfelt storytelling, research, and timeless principles, they invite you to reject a life of decline (what musicians call diminuendo) in favor of one of continual growth, contribution, and service—what they call the Crescendo Mentality.

The authors contend that life’s later seasons—whether midlife, career peak, after tragedy, or retirement—should not be times of retreat but opportunity. Instead of coasting once you reach success or feeling defeated when circumstances change, you can see every stage as a new beginning. This mindset echoes Covey’s famous principle from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: begin with the end in mind. To live in Crescendo, you must continually look ahead to what you can still contribute—to your family, your work, your community, and the world.

Redefining Success as Service

Covey and Haller challenge society’s obsession with wealth and status. True success, they argue, is measured not by accumulation but by contribution. Quoting Albert Schweitzer, they remind readers: “The great secret to happiness is contribution, not accumulation.” This shift in mindset—from what you get to what you give—anchors every story in the book. Whether you’re a CEO, teacher, or parent, the Crescendo Mentality asks you to pursue a mission larger than yourself.

One vivid story comes from Austrian entrepreneur Karl Rabeder, who gave away his fortune to fund microloans for poor entrepreneurs after realizing luxury had left him “soulless.” Similarly, Bill and Melinda Gates embody Crescendo living after their corporate success, channeling billions toward global health and education. These stories illustrate that prosperity without purpose leaves one empty, while generosity expands joy through service.

A Symphony with Four Movements

Covey structures the book around four major “movements” of life, each one requiring a Crescendo mindset instead of resignation:

• The Midlife Struggle: When people feel stuck, disillusioned, or question their impact, the authors remind us to measure success differently—by strengthening relationships and character, not just careers.
• The Pinnacle of Success: After success, many plateau or coast. Covey urges readers to look forward again—to use influence to mentor, give back, and serve.
• Life-Changing Setbacks: Tragedies or failures can either disable or deepen us. By choosing growth, faith, and service, we can turn pain into purpose (examples include Elizabeth Smart, Anthony Ray Hinton, and others who transformed trauma into service).
• The Second Half of Life: Rather than “retirement,” Covey envisions renewed purpose—what he calls “accelerando,” speeding up your influence and serving new generations.

Each stage demands renewed awareness, courage, and commitment. You can’t control what happens to you, but you can always control your response—and that choice determines whether your life expands or contracts.

The Crescendo Mentality in Action

Stephen and Cynthia Covey weave their family story—particularly Stephen’s final years battling dementia and Sandra Covey’s paralysis—as a living example of the Crescendo Mentality in action. Even when Stephen Covey could no longer write or speak, his family notes he tried to teach and connect through every possible moment. Sandra Covey, confined to a wheelchair, continued to host gatherings, volunteer in her community, and send birthday cards to dozens of grandchildren, declaring near the end, “It is not finished!”

These heartfelt stories anchor the book’s central truth: living in Crescendo is not dependent on age, health, or status—it’s a mindset. The Covey parents, along with daughter Cynthia, model resilience fueled by optimism and faith. Their lives form a symphony where the final movement, far from fading, builds to a powerful chord.

Why It Matters Now

In an age obsessed with productivity and perfection, Live Life in Crescendo calls for depth, meaning, and legacy. The book is both an invitation and a challenge: if your life is music, will you end in diminuendo—fading into silence—or crescendo, growing into ever-greater empathy, faith, and impact? The Coveys’ answer is clear: whatever your circumstances, your most important work is still ahead of you.

By embracing this philosophy, you can redefine every new season not as decline but as expansion. You can live as Victor Hugo once wrote—a guiding quote throughout the book—“When I go down to the grave, I can say, ‘I have finished my day’s work,’ but I cannot say, ‘I have finished my life’s work.’” The Crescendo Mentality, then, is not just about success. It’s about significance, resilience, and love that grows louder, richer, and more generous until the very end.

The first principle of living in crescendo is recognizing that your life is a mission, not merely a career. Stephen Covey insisted that careers end, but missions live on. Careers chase success; missions pursue significance. This difference transforms your energy from self-centered progress into purpose-driven contribution.

Rethinking Midlife

Covey begins with the archetypal midlife crisis—the moment people look around and ask, “Is this all there is?” He uses It’s a Wonderful Life as metaphor: George Bailey, despairing on a bridge, fails to see the meaning in his ordinary life until an angel reveals how his small acts of love changed others. The lesson: your daily choices ripple outward far beyond your career’s scope. Don’t measure your worth by promotions or possessions; measure it by relationships built and lives shaped.

Covey highlights a real father who left his family chasing excitement and wealth, only to leave decades of pain behind him. True success, the authors argue, is not found in leaving a mark on the world—but in leaving love in the hearts of your family.

Choose the Right Yardstick

To live in crescendo, you must measure success by values, not outcomes. Covey shares the lesson of Harvard professor Clayton Christensen, who asked, “How will you measure your life?” His research showed that business school peers who achieved fortune often lost family or integrity in the process. They climbed ladders leaning on the wrong walls. Living in crescendo means choosing the right ladder—the one aligned with principles like honesty, service, and love.

Covey’s message echoes Viktor Frankl’s insight from Man’s Search for Meaning: success is the byproduct of purpose. You create fulfillment when what you do each day reflects who you are at your best—your mission, not merely your job description.

Act, Don’t React

Covey’s core habit—proactivity—is the heartbeat of Living Life in Crescendo. No matter your conditions, you choose the response. He quotes, “Between stimulus and response there is a space; in that space lies our power to choose.” The author demonstrates this through people like principal Ernie Nix, who lost over 200 pounds through sheer determination, inspiring his entire school community to live healthier. His turning point came when he realized: “I choose not to be miserable—it is a choice.”

From Job to Calling

Stephen Covey himself modeled this shift. After being denied a promotion in academia, he left the security of university life at fifty-one to start his own leadership firm. Mortgaging his home, he built what became FranklinCovey and wrote the international classic The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. That leap, driven by purpose not position, proved pivotal: a midlife crescendo that multiplied his influence worldwide.

The chapter closes with a family story—when young Cynthia once felt neglected, Stephen refused an old friend’s dinner invitation to keep their preplanned “father–daughter date.” That decision imprinted a truth: “In relationships, the small things are the big things.” Through such consistent choices, a mission-driven life is built note by note—until it becomes a legacy.

Service, for Stephen and Cynthia Covey, is not an optional act of charity—it’s the essence of a meaningful life. Living in Crescendo means turning outward through gratitude and contribution, especially when life feels hard. “When you are stuck,” Covey teaches, “go serve someone.”

Small Things with Great Love

Mother Teresa’s words, which open this chapter—“Do small things with great love”—define the Crescendo way. The authors show that little acts of service multiply like seeds. John Kralik’s story illustrates this beautifully: at fifty-three, broke and depressed, he decided to write 365 thank-you notes in a year. That practice of gratitude transformed his life—financially, emotionally, and spiritually—and led to his book A Simple Act of Gratitude. By focusing on thanks rather than lack, he expanded his world.

Giving Back in the Midst of Struggle

Jorge Fierro’s “Burrito Project” embodies purposeful service. Once homeless in Salt Lake City, Fierro later built a thriving Mexican food company. Grateful for those who once fed him, he founded Burrito Project SLC, organizing volunteers to deliver up to 1,400 burritos weekly to the homeless. As he says, “Besides feeding them, we’re letting them know we care.”

Other stories echo this theme: a teacher who inspired love for science by lighting rockets with eighth graders; a mother who packed lunch every day for her son’s impoverished friend; PTA volunteers who turned a snack shelf for hungry refugee students into a full food pantry. These small, sustained acts of service build what Covey calls “true success.”

Service as the Purpose of Life

The authors close with Marian Wright Edelman’s declaration: “Service is the rent you pay for being.” Serving others creates joy because it aligns you with life’s true purpose—love in action. In the Covey tradition, this is not volunteerism as charity; it’s leadership as stewardship—using your abilities to lift someone else. Living in Crescendo means letting that music of giving grow louder with age.

For Covey, leadership is not about authority or achievement—it’s about awakening others to their own potential. He defines leadership as “communicating a person’s worth and potential so clearly that they are inspired to see it in themselves.”

Catch People Doing Right

Drawing from Kenneth Blanchard’s The One Minute Manager, Covey argues that “unexpressed good thoughts are worth squat.” Praise must be spoken to become transformational. When his family’s mechanic, John Nuness, revealed that Stephen Covey was the only client who ever truly appreciated his craftsmanship, Cynthia understood her father’s hidden gift: genuine acknowledgment builds trust and loyalty.

The Dulcinea Principle

Through the story of Man of La Mancha, Covey names what he calls the “Dulcinea Principle”—seeing people not as they are, but as they can become. Don Quixote’s faith transforms Aldonza from a broken prostitute into the noble Dulcinea. Likewise, when a leader believes sincerely in another, that faith creates reality. This mirrors psychologist Carl Rogers’s insight that accepting people unconditionally enables growth.

Covey’s teaching continues with the “Bridge Builder” poem, symbolizing servant leaders who build pathways for those who follow. Mentorship, he argues, is not about creating followers but generating more leaders—echoing John Wooden’s example of guiding athletes not only to victory, but to character and service after the game.

Ultimately, leadership in crescendo means moving from achievement to significance—using your influence to plant seeds of worth that will outlive you. In this movement from success to stewardship, you transform from achiever to builder of legacies.

At the book’s emotional core lies one fundamental question: when life hits hard, will you shrink—or expand? Living in Crescendo in crisis means choosing hope, not despair. The chapter opens with Anthony Ray Hinton, who spent thirty years on death row for a crime he didn’t commit. Initially consumed by anger, he rediscovered freedom through compassion, helping fellow inmates grieve and laugh. “Despair was a choice,” he declared. “So was hope.”

Turning Setbacks into Growth

Covey introduces people who embody the Crescendo response. Among them is burn survivor Stephanie Nielson, who emerged from catastrophic injuries to inspire millions online about faith and resilience. And Nelson Mandela, who entered prison an angry revolutionary and emerged a reconciler, proving that forgiveness restores humanity. Mandela’s insight, “Until I changed myself, I could not change others,” captures the Crescendo mindset perfectly.

From Pain to Purpose

Elizabeth Smart’s abduction story becomes a modern parable of transformation: rather than living as a victim, she used her trauma to protect other children, founding the Elizabeth Smart Foundation. Similarly, Dave Dahl, a former addict and prisoner, reinvented himself by creating Dave’s Killer Bread, hiring ex-felons to offer second chances. As he says, “Failure leads to success—it’s a sign of engagement.”

Living in Crescendo, then, requires gratitude, courage, and service even when life seems unfair. As Covey writes, “You are not only a product of your circumstances, but a product of your proactive decisions.” The music of your life strengthens when played through adversity.

Every life-changing setback, Covey explains, presents an invitation to rediscover your "why." Inspired by Viktor Frankl, he emphasizes that meaning—not comfort—sustains us through hardship. Frankl, a Holocaust survivor, observed that those who survived the camps were those who felt life still wanted something from them. Purpose gave them strength to endure the unbearable.

Meaning Beyond Pain

Covey shares the story of Dr. Chandrasekhar Sankurathri, who lost his wife and children when Air India Flight 182 exploded in 1985. Rather than drown in grief, he founded the Sankurathri Foundation in rural India, building schools and hospitals in his family’s name. His choice turned devastation into millions of lives healed through education and eye care. As Dr. Chandra said, “Life is meaningless only if we allow it to be.”

Choosing Courage and Gratitude

Michael J. Fox’s story embodies joyful perseverance. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s at thirty, he reframed his life around acceptance and gratitude, raising over $1 billion for research. Ordinary people too—like Rick Bradshaw, a quadriplegic who earned a PhD and mentors others—show that setbacks can expand the human spirit rather than diminish it.

Carpe Diem: Seizing Purpose

To live with purpose requires initiative—what Covey calls using your R&I, “Resourcefulness and Initiative.” Todd Bol’s Little Free Libraries prove this principle: one man’s tribute to his mother became a global movement fostering literacy and connection. Similarly, Celeste Mergens’s Days for Girls began with one question about menstrual hygiene and has now restored school days and dignity to millions of girls worldwide.

Covey challenges readers to be Transition Persons—those who break negative cycles and bring new vision to their families and societies. Malala Yousafzai, shot by the Taliban at fifteen, is one such modern example. Her courage to keep advocating for girls’ education—her “why”—proved that one person with vision can ignite global change. Living in Crescendo means finding that “why,” letting it drive your “how.”

In music, accelerando means to speed up. For Stephen Covey, the so-called retirement years are not a slowdown, but an acceleration—a time of wisdom, freedom, and expanded contribution. He tells of a judge, approaching sixty-five, who realized after hearing Covey speak that he still had more to give. Instead of retiring, he doubled down on public service and community causes.

Rejecting the Retirement Mirage

Covey dismantles the modern notion of “retirement.” Many of history’s greatest contributors—Churchill, Edison, Picasso—did their most meaningful work late in life. Like Churchill at sixty-six, who called his new role “a walk with destiny,” your years of experience prepare you for your most influential chapters. Covey quotes research showing that purpose is the true antidote to aging and “retirement disease.”

From Career to Contribution

The book profiles people who “accelerated” after traditional retirement. George Burns performed past age 90; Barbara Bowman directed early childhood programs into her nineties; and Clayton Williams launched a second career as an artist after sixty. Each proves age is not a limitation but a license to evolve toward creativity, service, and meaning.

Legacy and Longevity

Cynthia adds personal reflections on her parents’ later years: Stephen built a family retreat he named “Legacy,” designed for grandchildren to connect across generations; Sandra became a community leader and philanthropist, founding the Covey Center for the Arts while in a wheelchair. Both filled their remaining days with purpose—and both modeled what Covey called “life in crescendo until the very end.”

In essence, this movement of life invites you to transform from success to significance. The Second Half can be your loudest, fullest, and most harmonious movement—if you keep your momentum going, stay connected, and dedicate yourself to love and service without end.