Midlife Mastery Journal

Here’s where, especially at midlife, men (and women) make their most serious mistake: their discomfort with the present state of their affairs causes them to see an urgency to their decision-making that may not really be there at all. And this deceived sense of urgency is your ticket to making poor (unfortunate) decisions.

After all, you’ve now lived half your life, and you’ve learned a thing or two over these four or five decades, haven’t you? You’ve made some mistakes and now, you think, it’s time to put all that practical knowledge to work: out with the old, and in with the new!

You know the old saying: “It’s better to be safe than sorry”? As you consider your next career, balancing what you need with what you want, keep in mind that it’s very possible to be both safe and sorry.

I’m discovering that people would generally prefer to take their chances living their lives with blinders on (oblivious to signs of trouble on the distant horizon) than to spend time and energy doing the challenging work involved in taking a close look at themselves, their situations, their goals and purpose and, particularly, feelings of uncertainty or discomfort that they may be experiencing.

To become truly proactive about managing the pain of your midlife transition, where do you have to start? From what I’ve just said, you’ll know that you have to begin with your awareness.