You Are Not the Same Person as Your 20 year old Self

Here’s what I learned this week about men who take a long look at themselves mid-career: We are not the same person we were at the beginning of our career, so why should we want the same things out of a job?

This mid-career reset often starts with dissatisfaction in a current role.

➡️ The NCE (new career energy) around an industry, company, or role has faded after 20 yrs in.

➡️ You start to question the career path and ultimate job/company/accomplishment that seemed meaningful to you when you were 25 and in your first real job.

I see this every week in my practice, where men are feeling the weight of the golden handcuffs that keep them in jobs that don't make them happy but are stable and pay for life now and retirement in the future.

They've spent their whole adult lives connecting their identity and self worth to their work.

When they consider making a change, they begin to grapple with two questions:

➡️ If I am not working in this role, who am I?

➡️ If I am not striving for the better job, the bigger paycheck, and the more prestigious company, am I reaching my full potential?

In my experience, mid-career is the perfect time to ask these questions and to challenge the goals you set for yourself at the beginning of your career. You have plenty of runway to retrain or go back to school and current employment can provide stability until you are ready to make a change.

The end result is that most men discover they are not the same person they were 20 years ago and their ambitions, values, and priorities have shifted and that's causing the disconnect with their current job.

What an opportunity to reset for the next 20 years.

What has shifted in you since the beginning of your career and has it changed how you feel about your current job?