Why Changing Careers Has Nothing to Do with Midlife Crisis

Let’s be honest here… How often have you dreamt of changing careers and starting from scratch – but you felt afraid of what others could think of you? You’ve worked so long in the same place, and you’ve already gained so much experience that some people would consider it a shame for you to start something new. Some would even accuse you of having a midlife crisis.

And what’s that anyway? What exactly is a midlife crisis?

When I was a kid and I heard about someone having a “midlife crisis”, it would usually be a man in his 40s who’d left his wife for a younger woman, after which he would join a music band, or bought himself a very non-practical but incredibly awesome – and expensive – car.

But that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about someone who suddenly realizes how long she’s been working and, most importantly, how long she still has to work. How many years doing exactly the same thing. And how little fulfilling that work has been.

It’s the moment you realize this is the time to start something new. If you wait too long, the train will have left. It will be too late. And are you gonna really risk that just because some people will talk behind your back? Who cares??

What for others is a shame, for you could be fulfilling. And I dare to think that many of these people who “care” for you are just – in a sense – afraid of you succeeding when they didn’t have the guts to try themselves. Being surrounded by people who have a similar life than yours avoids comparisons. It prevents you from thinking you could also try. If you weren’t that afraid.

Why midlife crisis doesn’t exist anymore

Is midlife an age? Or is it the moment you realize you’re not as happy with your life as you’d imagined?

Let’s face it. We don’t have any excuses nowadays. It’s not that we have to go to high school again if we want to change careers. Or that we have to start working as the coffee guy, and hope for someone to discover our hidden skills.

Nope. Nowadays, you have access to online tools, online courses, and even networks of people willing to help and share information for those who – like you – aren’t happy with their lives. Who can’t – or don’t want to – believe that that was it.

And if anyone ever accuses you of having changed careers as the result of your suffering a midlife crisis… So what? Let them talk. Embrace the critique, ’cause it usually comes from those who would never dare to try it themselves.

For me, this is not a crisis, but an eye-opening time.

xoxo,
Alicia
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