“I’m 44 now, I can’t change careers. It’s too late to start all over.”
Most leaders I train and coach are experienced. Many of them have reached a time in life where they have achieved a lot of what they once aimed for.
Now what?
Some are happy where they are and want to make incremental changes and improvements.
Others, like the woman who told me she was too old to start over, want to make a larger change but don’t dare to. They think it’s too late, that they are too old.
They are not.
Age is a number, not a blocker, unless we let it be one.
As David Niven said:
Your dreams don’t have an expiration date.
The true story of Suzanne Watkins is a great illustration.
As a a single mum working 3 jobs in the US, her life settled into a pattern:
“You drive to the office, you sit at a computer all day, you go home, sleep, and do it all over again.”
When the children became older and didn’t need her as much, she made a radical change. At age 60 she graduated as a flight attendant. Nowadays she works long-haul at short notice, with an ad hoc schedule. That may not be a lifestyle for you, but it fits her perfectly.
She says she feels “most at peace with myself when I am a stranger in a strange land and I am wandering”.
This is her advice:
“Don’t think of your life linearly. Think of it as continuing to unfold.”
Of course it’s not too late.
There really is no expiration date for your dreams.
Love this! Age is just a number in deed... there is so much we can change when we realise that there is more than a work and repeat routine. Thank you for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteSorry it was me that commented above, didn't realise it was set to anonymous! Thanks for everything Annika!
ReplyDeleteStarted at the university at age of 48, to become something I have dreamt of. I have learnt so much along the way. I don't see it as a career change as much as a career development. I think you have use for all your previous experiences. The most importent was to learn that it's ok if you do not understand something immediately. Knowledge comes when facts and thoughts work together for some time. You do not have to be brave you just need to take your curiosity seriously.
ReplyDeleteWonderful Marie, I like how you call it career development rather than career change and that you talk about the importance of taking curiority seriously :).
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