The Mid-Thirties
I was chatting to a friend the other day about the odd state of flux you find yourself in during your mid-thirties.
I have no proper research to back this up, but I have a theory that your mid-thirties are the optimal point between drive and experience. Of course, there are many exceptions to this – a great many people find their callings at much younger or older ages – however, I think that around your mid-thirties is the time when you have enough experience of working life to decide what you do or don’t like, and yet you are not too old to change to another career should you so choose.
In addition, it’s also the time when many people have kids, and kids are really good at getting you to reappraise your life. If you have a soul you might start to question how your actions will appear to your children and how they might be affected by the kind of person you are. Are you someone they can be proud of/look up to? If not, then here’s where you can change.
In Paul Arden’s first book he includes a fascinating pie chart of what happens to you at different ages. Ages 30-40 are named ‘hellbent on success’. Again, I think this might be the intersection of relative youth and experience that leaves you feeling empowered enough to do something, yet wide-eyed enough to believe that it will succeed.
Of course, the momentum of all this may see you through the rest of your career.
So, if you were born while Nixon, Ford or Carter were in the White House – now’s your time.