One of the most important life lessons you could learn is that while age ranges can sometimes serve as a guide, they’re not set in stone, and you’re no less of a person for charting a different path. For example, you might only learn to drive in your 50s, which is absolutely fine provided you’re okay with that arrangement. It doesn’t make you lesser at all.
Too often we can think that age should bind us to certain behaviors. Of course, this is very necessary sometimes, as it’s strange for someone in their middle age to only hang around young adults or to never bond with their own peers. For obvious reasons, most would perceive that to be odd.
So, age can be a guide, but not necessarily a hard and fast rule. It’s important to keep that in mind when you have to start over in life.
There are many reasons why this may happen. You may become bereaved or encounter divorce. Perhaps you’ll move to a new country, or simply want to restart after your business fails. You might have gone through bankruptcy, left with no assets to your name.
No matter your life situation, starting again is always possible. But when you’re in middle age, doing so can feel just a little more daunting. Never fear, because in this post, we’ll discuss how to get started in that direction:
Take Some Time To Reflect
You’re not the same person at 40 that you were in your early 20s, and that’s a good thing. Odds are, you’re a little more in tune with who you are and what you want. This is why it’s good to take some time to reflect on your goals, and what kind of lifestyle is most important to you now. It may not be the same as some other goals you’ve already pursued or achieved.
For example, if you’ve been working through settling a past separation with a divorce attorney, then odds are you won’t want to dive into the dating scene anew just yet. This can be good, as a little time to breathe, to work on yourself, and to figure out your priorities can be ideal. Keep a journal and ask yourself the hard questions. It will help you chart your path forward.
Navigate Your Next Career Steps
For the most part, our careers or means of generating income is the defining measure for how we can organize and structure our life from that point on. It could be that “resetting your life” comes with a career change in tow.
This could mean having the humility to start again in a lower position than you’re used to, if only to pay the rent and to give yourself a little time to think. There’s no shame in stacking shelves, becoming a delivery diver, or doing whatever you need to do while you take a back seat and figure out your next career steps.
You may be looking for more freedom, in which case, learning the ropes of starting a new business might be an ideal solution because you will be able to grow something from the ground up. Whether you’ve been wondering how to build a crypto exchange to make the most of the crypto market, or you’re looking to align your passions with something that gives you more control over your life, there is no rush. Whatever is going to rejuvenate your life is worth the time and effort.
You may benefit from going back to the drawing board and retraining too. Perhaps you’re eligible for student finance loans, meaning you could study for a new qualification if you need to. You could use your previous skills to inspire a new direction – for example, perhaps you care about the well-being of families and hope to move into social work. With a little time to stay focused on your career path, you have something healthy to focus on, and the salary you negotiate or the workplace you attend can help build the structure of your new life.
Letting Go Of That Which Doesn’t Serve You
In life, it’s very easy to accumulate people and things out of a sense of obligation. For example, you might have a social group that isn’t so supportive of you or one another, but you’ve kept up with them because they were friends of your spouse or convenient neighbors.
Sometimes, it’s healthy to detach from that which isn’t serving you, and restarting your life anew can be the perfect opportunity to achieve that. Consider what it is you can let go so you can spread your wings a little further. Of course, some responsibilities are essential, such as managing child visitation and constant communication after a marriage ends.
Outside of those essential responsibilities, it can be worth reframing your life anew and focusing on that which really matters. This gives you more free time you can use towards assessing your path forward.
Get To Know Yourself
It’s very easy to get to middle age without really knowing who you are, deep down. This isn’t to say everyone walks around with a perfectly inventoried list of all their character traits and desires, that would be too clinical a method to take.
However, if you married young, found yourself in the job you stayed in right after school, have had most of your political or cultural ideas agreed upon by your environment, or just felt like you’ve gone with the flow, you might wish to move past that and start charting your own way forward.
That’s not to say going with the flow is a bad thing, nor does it make you less intelligent and composed in any way. It’s just that you may have found yourself going through life never really questioning some of those convictions you supposedly had to take for granted.
So – why not travel solo to a safe country for a long hike with a company designed to help tourists do so? Why not learn a new instrument, or start up a new hobby? This pursuit allows you to know yourself again, not just within the confines of other people or their expectations of you. It can be freeing to pursue this, and give you that sense of independence you may have been missing this far.
With this advice, you’re sure to restart your life in your 40s and beyond. By measuring what truly matters, giving yourself time to breathe, letting go of problems that no longer concern you, and investing time into yourself, anything is possible. Consider the new version of you the best version of you. We wish you the best of luck in doing so!
