-You can change, adapt and grow at any stage of life.
At sixty-four, Diana Nyad completed a 110-mile swim from Cuba to Florida, becoming the first person to do so without a shark cage. She tried four times before, the first when she was just twenty-eight.
At thirty, Jeff Bezos had a secure, high-paying job as a hedge fund’s youngest-ever senior vice president. Disillusioned, he left his Wall Street career to create Amazon, initially as an online bookstore. Now Bezos is one of the wealthiest people in the world.
In 2014, David Heinemeier Hansson, the creator of Ruby on Rails, a popular web development framework, left entrepreneurship to join the software company Basecamp as a programmer and a partner. His entrepreneurial experience helped Basecamp grow and succeed while he enjoyed the stability of working for a larger company.
Who says you can’t or shouldn’t?
If you encounter resistance to a career or lifestyle change, recognize that norms and beliefs vary among people and cultures. What matters is what you believe gives you the most fulfillment or is the best use of your time and talents.
Sometimes the resistance comes from within. If you’re fighting with yourself on this kind of issue, try to take a step back. Think about where the notion that something is impossible for you came from. Then decide if you actually agree.
Do some research. Find examples of people who strayed from the norm, like you are considering doing. Let their stories inspire you to dream bigger and bolder.
Humans are designed for growth.
There are numerous studies that show growth and development are good for you. The benefits include higher job satisfaction and performance, better mental health, increased adaptability and flexibility and a positive impact on relationships.
Many adults, including myself, take up new hobbies or interests or embark on new paths throughout their lives. After the age of forty, I started my coaching business, training in the martial art of Aikido and learning tango. One of my first coaching clients left a teaching career at fifty to study nursing. Today, she works as a traveling nurse enjoying an excellent salary and exciting travel adventures.
Throughout adulthood, you can reach for new goals, learn from your mistakes and improve your results in any aspect of your life. With every new choice and experience you have, your brain gets busy creating new neural pathways. If you want to stay sharp, you might consider how you can keep changing, adapting and growing!
Focus on fulfillment.
If there’s something you want to do or change, don’t focus on the obstacles. There will always be hurdles to jump over when venturing into something new. Instead, you can focus on what you stand to gain. It could be experience, status, success or something more inner satisfying like confidence, courage or trust.
Fulfillment happens when you discover a sense of purpose or meaning by achieving your goals and aspirations. This feeling of contentment results from aligning your actions with positive values and beliefs.
As we all live longer, we’ll likely desire to do more with our extended lives and, in the process, change ourselves.
Diana Nyad persevered to become a first. Jeff Bezos risked a new career to gain wealth. Hansson gave up a start-up for stability.
What do you want to do? It’s not too late and you’re not too old.
Til next week,
Jo-Aynne Von Born, Executive Coach READYSETMORE
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Work your Authentic Genius.
Grow and flourish with your own intelligence!
- What’s your biggest fear about making a change?
- How are you measuring the success of that change? Is there any other way to measure it that would be more motivating?
- What small ways could you pursue it to get a taste of the gains before fully committing?