Ever wonder how your career would look if you had chosen a different major, or lived abroad or worked twenty years before starting a family? We can call these curiosities or regrets or even contemplations. What still nags at you to accomplish or experience? I’ve always wanted to live on the edge of water and if I’m really truthful, wanted to live and work outside the U.S….for a while.
I did the foreign piece and still am fortunate to travel frequently. After a long career as a therapist, I started my own business. Which is like giving birth at 60. And I’m still helping people, which I love. So what’s missing? Is it just a lifestyle by the water?
What is essential in your lifestyle and livelihood? What is calling you? Is it a writing career, politics or that invention you never started? Is it a dreamed about community or lifestyle?
Whenever I return from a trip I’m thrilled to be back in my own comfortable space. I say to friends, “I love my house and garden, but I wish I could carry them around the world”. Seeing and experiencing new vistas and cultures bring excitement, stimulation and learning.
People feel similarly about their jobs. Over time they become stale, you want something new. And yet frequent reluctance to change keeps you inert. Career benefits, security and colleagues block any urge to transition. Plus a worry that it is too late. You wonder if you are too old to be hired, too foggy to go back to school, too tired to become an entrepreneur.
The myth that everything career related must be accomplished by age 65 restricts you from dreaming up new paths. And yet look at the “late” bloomers, people who have entered new realms while in their 60’s, 70’s, 80’s: Grandma Moses, Colonel Sanders, Ronald Reagan, Laura Ingalls Wilder.
You probably have already bloomed in one or more fields, but is there a new one bubbling inside? Sometimes your blooming interest is related in focus, but comes in a different form. Or you turn a hobby into a career. Or you proceed in an entirely different direction.
Experience and age lead to increased self knowledge and motivation. You have the awareness of what makes you happy, how you prefer spending your time, what’s essential to your existence. Creating purpose and giving back call out as we get older. Knowing your work is vital to others allows you to feel relevant and useful.
Aging reminds you that life is finite. You don’t have unlimited time. What are you avoiding that is important? Even if the answer isn’t readily evident, the nagging dissatisfaction signals it’s time to look. To dig deeper into what needs to be eliminated and added to your life.
“Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing that we see too late the one that is open”
Alexander Graham Bell
Bill is 55 and has a good position and success in his company. He enjoys his co-workers and makes a comfortable living. But Bill is wondering how much longer he wants to remain. While considering retirement at the traditional age of 65, Bill can’t fathom doing this career ten more years. He wants more freedom, more creativity, something more challenging to sink his teeth into. Something that matters. Bill is on the Board of a local non-profit. Helping children from impoverished homes feels very fulfilling to him.
“Certainly I can’t go back to school to become a social worker,” Bill thinks. “I’m way too old for that.” But who says Bill is too old and that higher education is the only entry to a new field? In order to discover his options for helping children, Bill needs more information about what organizations exist and the variety of roles professionals fill. Bill needs to talk to people who are doing what interests him. He requires role models and mentors.
What actions do you need to take in order to bloom in a new way? How vital is it for you to grow and develop? What will be the loss if you fail to act? A place to begin is this resource on career changes.
And no, for me a lifestyle by the water isn’t enough.
Get ready for blooming:
What will you regret never doing?
How do you want to contribute?
What talents can you share?
Explore the possibilities
Try one on
Keep growing and see you on the path!
