Picture this.
You are driving home from work. The highway is slow and jammed with trucks. It’s Friday afternoon and it’s been a rough week. His PA has been sick for 2 days, his precious report received only a modest acknowledgment from the boss, and the IT people can’t guarantee that his project will be completed on time.
It has spent 25 years climbing the corporate ladder and looks forward to another 20 years with more of the same. Your children have moved away, your parents are aging and causing some concern, and you and your spouse are adrift. You used to drink and dine on Friday night and now you whine and dine.
This is all there is? As you drive home, do you wonder what the meaning of your life is?
Is this a midlife crisis? Maybe. Some people will experience a slight sense of disappointment, and others will look to the rest of their careers with despair and fear. Many people in their 30s, 40s, and 50s will experience some form of midlife crisis.
Fortunately, there are many solutions to the doubt that is created during the midlife crisis. If you are no longer moving towards your dreams, now is the time to take stock and refocus your life. This is a time of transition, change, and personal advancement.
Here are some questions that you and your spouse might address tonight.
What are our objectives? Have your dreams and aspirations changed in the last 10 to 15 years? Have your dreams just faded into the reality of everyday life? If you had all the money and confidence you need, what would you be doing?
What have you done well that you can be proud of? Now is the time to celebrate your successes. Give yourself a pat on the back for the amazing things you’ve accomplished so far.
Will staying at your current job bring you closer to your goals or further away from your goals? Work is often the source of much of the frustration that accompanies the so-called midlife crisis. If office politics, daily commutes, or lack of recognition and promotion are eating away at you, it’s probably time to think about alternatives.
This discussion then leads to the big question. How do you finance a life change without putting the obligations you already have at risk?
Now is the time for action. Many who feel rudderless find that career counselors, mentors, and personal development experts can play an important role in helping clarify goals and financial needs. Clearly, a balancing period is required. Authors like Wayne Dyer, David Posen, Donald Trump, and Robert Kiyosaki can be very helpful in the midlife crisis.
Dyer and Posen are experts in the fields of mental health and psychology, and Trump and Kiyosaki are obviously business and finance gurus. These four are particularly useful, although there are many more authors who provide excellent advice on many specialized topics. They can be found in the self-help or personal development sections of bookstores.
Whether you’re approaching a midlife crisis from a psychological perspective or a business standpoint, a lifestyle change is probably the most common antidote. Change doesn’t have to be a drastic event that burns all bridges. You might consider volunteering for a charity that meets your goal criteria. Or maybe you want to challenge your skills by learning another language. The universal panacea is to be physically fit, eat right, and get plenty of exercise. Finally, working on your own to fund your goals, perhaps through consulting, recruiting, or network marketing (MLM), will meet your job satisfaction needs.
This may seem daunting, but adding one small change to your life every day can create miracles in just one year. Author Jeff Olson writes eloquently about making small changes to your routines to achieve your really big dreams and goals.
You may remember the old adage given to women who suffer from sadness. Go out and buy a new hat! Well, the hat wasn’t what cured the depression. It was to go out and do something.
Now is the time to take a small step towards your freedom. Start changing your life for the better now. Every small, seemingly insignificant step you take now will encourage you, excite you toward better things, and get you back on a positive and productive path.