Mid Career Crisis can typically happen when you feel stagnant and don’t see the results as desired. From my perspective, understanding that – What Got you here, will not take you further, is key here.
Everyone chases “new outcomes”, but we forget that if input and process remains the same, the output cannot be different. One should shift focus from “new output” to “new input” and/or “new process”
In most cases the basic financial security and primary needs are addressed after first decade or so and hence they no longer motivate you to do something you are not enjoying, so the inner push to get-up every morning and spend the day on the tasks is getting difficult.
The renowned book IKIGAI encourages us to discover the sweet spot where passion, vocation, profession, and mission intersect. This is most relevant at mid life stage.
#Passion: Identify what truly ignites your soul. Reflect on activities that make time fly, and consider how you can integrate these into your career. Its time for serious introspection and being honest with self.
#Vocation: Assess your skills and strengths. What are you exceptionally good at? Aligning your profession with your natural talents can lead to a fulfilling and purposeful career. One may be good at writing, worth explore writing a book or blogs on your experience, which may appear as side hustle, but will give help re-energize yourself at work too.
#Profession: Explore opportunities that are outside the box, aligning to your passion, skills but also adventurous. Step out of your comfort zone and explore something altogether new or as close to new, as possible. Embrace change as an opportunity for growth. Consider upskilling or pivoting your career towards areas that align with your IKIGAI diagram.
#Mission: What impact do you want to have on people and community around you? Finding a way to contribute to broader society that aligns with your values can add a profound layer of purpose to your work. It need not be big, it could be championing a citizenship cause in your current role or sponsoring or getting associated with an ERG in your company.
