Crisis in the Middle of Your Career? There Are Ways Out!

Mid-career crises are particularly tumultuous.

There is the apprehension of what is to come, along with worrying that you won't have the time, agility, or support to transition into a different industry.

There is also the backwards-gazing of what once was, along with the dying hope that things will go back to the way they were.

And it's very easy to get caught between the two, nostalgia and uncertainty, resulting in a stagnant but sinking situation.

As with getting caught in quicksand, the first thing to do is to calm yourself. The more you struggle, the faster you sink.

The next thing to do is to slowly change your position. For quicksand, it's recommended that you try to get into a supine (facing up) position. In your situation, it may be breaking your silence and exploring options.

Then, finally, try to drift towards a safe spot.

If you have the benefit of supportive people around you, and you likely will if you break your silence, they can help you.

Ask them for for thoughts, ideas, even referrals if they can provide them.

You can face a crisis alone, but that's a choice you make.

You don't have to.

Last-Minute Changes: Boon or Bane? Depends on You.

Last-minute changes can really throw you for a loop.

Especially if it happens without warning.

Now, you could complain and stubbornly try to stick to your guns as you ride it out, or you can purposefully look for opportunities to learn, grow, and test yourself.

One attitude will keep you resentful and wary of the future.

The other will keep you positive and excited for what's to come.

I know what I'd prefer to be.

Winning a Person Over or Winning an Argument? They Aren't The Same.

If you're trying to win an argument, you need facts.

If you're trying to win a person over, you need far more than that.

Even though we like to think we make our decisions based on facts, the final deciding factor is very often based on an emotion.

A person can have all the information pointing towards a certain action, but still not want to do it.

For example, you can present scientific evidence to a smoker about how harmful smoking is, show them statistics of diseases and deaths caused by smoking, even impose fines and penalties on them.

But they're not going to stop smoking.

Some even argue back, that their uncle or someone they know lived to nearly a hundred years old despite being a smoker, that they have always been healthy and have no illnesses, that they can afford to pay if they have to.

Mere facts aren't going to change their behaviour.

And facts aren't going to sustain them through the difficulties they'll be going through should they change their behaviour.

In the case of smokers, that may include the withdrawal symptoms, the perceived "loss of face" for always previously refusing to quit, the loss of time spent with their smoke buddies, etc.

To truly change their behaviour, something has to strike them emotionally.

It can be nearly any emotion:

Fear of getting sick after they see a beloved relative get ill, or of dying after getting sick themselves.

Anger at wanting to prove their friends wrong, after being told that they will always be a slave to tobacco.

Love for their newborn child, with a desire for him/her to grow up in a healthier smoke-free environment.

That emotion is not only a stronger force for change, it is a greater sustaining force for the difficulties they'll experience while they are changing.

And you can be sure that manipulative people and groups know this well. Why do you think they keep bringing up emotional arguments, instead of factual ones?

So, if you really want to make positive change for yourself and/or those around you, appealing to emotions, backed up by some solid facts (because some of us really do want / need them) is the strongest way to go.

It isn't a one-or-the-other thing, it's a co-operative thing. Both work best in tandem.

You Are Free to Choose. But Not Free to Speak or Act Without Consequence.

Freedom to choose isn't freedom to speak or act without consequence.

For there to be social order, there must be laws and leaders.

By all means, leave if you don't like the society you're in.

But if you can't or don't want to, and yet don't want to be a follower, you have to become a leader, a law-changer or -maker, and/or a pariah.

One is not necessarily better than the others.

So make your choice and live with it.