What happens after you turn 50? What are your passions and inspirations, and how you can turn those into a satisfying and fulfilling second-half career?
This milestone of turning 50 may make you crazy deciding whether to begin slowing your work life, or carry on full steam.
So, what exactly does work mean to you? Maybe it means you continue on the same path you’ve been on for the last few decades, or, reinventing yourself with a career change.
You might be like me… from the time I had my first job at age 14 in a local pharmacy I thought I would be working for the rest of my life. I never even questioned it. Retire? I asked myself at age 49? Yeah, right.
So let’s say you’re an energetic 50, still ready to take on the working world, but you are bored to death with the same old routine, same job. You never had time to yourself when you were younger — raising a family, working, taking care of the household. Now maybe the kids are gone, and you’re starting to get your life back! But where does that leave you job-wise? Is your present career as satisfying as you want it to be?
When I turned 50, I was also going through a transition. My job was no longer gratifying, and quite the contrary, was swallowing my soul. I decided I no longer wanted to live unfulfilled and hired a coach who, with deep exploration, helped me define who I was and find my passions. And through this discovery it was clear that being a life coach was my next step. (You can read my whole story at https://www.secondhalftransitions.com/the-other-side/)
Now we’re going to begin to join your passions and interests into creating a rewarding and fulfilling second half career.
When you dive into what I’m about to tell you, please do me a favor and put yourself in a quiet place with no interruptions. It’s so important to focus on yourself because without this discovery, you might remain stagnant.
First step, defining your passions. What fulfills you? What do you envision yourself doing? And what does it look like?
Second, what skills do you enjoy using? What are you good at?
So putting those two things together, your passions and your skills, are the two harmonious? An example would be your passion might be cooking. And your skill is, as you’ve been told by many people, an excellent cook.
If your skills and passions aren’t aligned as simple as that example, think about how to put the two together. What is the common ground? An example could be your love of the arts and your skill with numbers. There might be creative outlets, such as museums and theaters, who are looking for organized people good with numbers.
Once you define these two steps, then go to number three — what are your income requirements? You might disagree and say income needs should be number one. The reason I made it number three is I didn’t want to put the possible barrier of income at the start only to shut down the idea of passions and skills, which to me, are the most important. Without them, there will be no change and inspiration in your second half career.
50+ can be an inspiring time in your life. Take what you love, think about how to apply it in your life, and enjoy. I really hope it works out for you, as it did for me. If you would like to explore this further, go to https://www.secondhalftransitions.com/work-with-me/, fill out the form and we’ll take it from there.
