Haven't Become Successful Enough by Your 40th Birthday - No Worries, You Still Have 40+ Years to Make It Big

"Ready to Work Until You Die?"  That is the headline in Bloomberg today.

 

The now-usual play-out in aging is evolving into this. Clients for my intuitive career coaching practice parachute in on those milestone birthdays such as 40 or 50 or even 60. Most are full of regret that they haven't accomplished more in their careers. My usual response - and it is amazingly effective - is that there is plenty of time in a career to build what could be much more successful. Yes, leap into the big time.

 

Yesterday I bluntly put it to a 40-something who had just entered management and assumed she should be "further ahead." What I observed was that this was a new platform for both acquiring additional skills and contacts and leveraging that bundle for a much better Next. The core message was: You will probably be working 40 more years +.

 

Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch is 91. Obviously he continues to have a firm grip on his New Corp empire. 

 

Actress Betty White was employed until almost the age of 100. 

 

Although it seems to be the end of a working life, Queen Elizabeth has been on the job managing The Firm into her late 90s. 

 

I am the oldest of the boomers and recently redid the menu for my coaching services. That included adding Tarot readings, which The New York Times saluted as a great tool for self-awareness and introspection. To give this initiative my full attention, I shuttered my two other boutiques. Those had been in marketing communications and legal writing. Extreme success resulting from those initiatives has been immediate.

 

Among the youngest of the boomers - Paul Weiss law firm chairperson Brad Karp - will probably land another major job and following that other big jobs if he decides not to re-up his contract in May 2023. At age 63, he is a relative kid among us who are determined not to retire - ever. Ahead of him could be at least two decades of full-time work. After that, he can ease off into contract professional opportunities.

 

Here in southwestern Arizona near the border of Mexico the ethos is that of a kind of retirement community. First-hand I observe how human beings deteriorate without work. At the very least they become less interesting and drift into isolation. At the worst they seem to develop serious health challenges.  

 

Working until we drop can trigger a paradigm shift in the concept of "aging." I don't know what will be at the other end of that disruption. What I do know and currently experience in my coaching is that we have stopped shooting ourselves in the foot by apologizing for "being old." Our universal pitch is mutating into: Here's what we can do for you. If the prospect doesn't buy what we are selling, we simply move on, as do all effective salespeople. 

 UPDATE:

Queen Elizabeth dies. Here is coverage.

Your just-right professional fit. You can bypass the usual pain points. You may need to change jobs, careers, or from being a worker to entrepreneurship. So many are at a crossroads. Complimentary consultation for coaching, job-search materials, and interviewing. The menu of services includes Tarot readings, both spreads and one-card pulls. Please contact janegenova374@gmail.com or text 203-468-8579.