PStart from the etymology of the word “crisis” The article proposes Four concrete approaches To deal with it: clarify with a budget of himself, imagine Alternative scenariosexperiment with small steps and look for one external look. Reflection closes with a Literary call to Dante and the “Dark Selva”, Powerful metaphor of bewilderment and rebirth.
I am almost fifty years old And I feel like I myself living In a sort of cage: a safe but repetitive job, which for years has not offered me stimuli or changes. I continue without seeing growth prospects Or evolution and this takes away enthusiasm. When I think of the years of work that I still have in front of me, I feel like I was wasting time precious e I don’t feel like starting again given my age, But the pension is too distant. Inside I know that I would like to change something, but I don’t know how: I block, I feel lost and I stay still. How can I find couragetrust in myself But above all a direction to overcome this crisis? “
Luisa
Monica Magri’s answer, work expert
Dear Luisa,
What you describe is a feeling that invests Many professionals in the age group between 40 and 50 years old: a stable but now repetitive job, the feeling of not growing anymorean enthusiasm that fades. Look forward and see many more years of work It may seem tiring, while looking back can bring thought to missed opportunities or roads not traveled. Is what is called Mid-Crisisor half a career crisis. A condition often lived as a failurebut which can actually become An opportunity for professional redefinition.
Crisis is the word of the week But we will explore it starting from one new perspective.
Crisis: from obstacle to the moment of choice
The word crisis comes from ancient Greek krísisThat meant decision, choice, separation. In hippocratic medicine it indicated the moment when a disease took a direction: towards healing or worsening. Alone Later the term took on negative connotations. Etymologically, therefore, the crisis is not a blockbut A moment of passagethe point where we have to choose the way to take. And if we read the mid-carer crisis just like that: not like a wall, but but like a threshold to cross?
The crisis can be an opportunity for positive change. (Getty Images)
Four directions to transform the crisis into a moment of renewal
Clarify through with a balance sheet and your path
The first step is really know what we built so far.
- What were the most significant experiences?
- In which contexts Did we feel really effective?
- What skillseven matured out of work, can we enhance today?
A Budget of skills – led by a professional or even independently with self-evaluation tools structured and questionnaires (which can be found online) – gives us back an honest photograph of our heritage. It is an exercise that not only strengthens self -confidence, but helps to identify new directions and any gaps to be bridged.
We also try a critically rework the past. Let’s identify i Key passages of our professional historythose who have generated greater satisfaction but also the most critical ones. What were our motivational drivers? What has limited us and how can we recover? What the opportunities lost And why?
We identify the alternative scenarios and prepare ourselves
It is undeniable that reinventing yourself or change trajectory requires effort, willingness to learn and discipline in following a program. But renew itself it does not necessarily mean starting from scratch: it may mean expand, integrate, transform What we already know how to do.
Today exist very accessible learning opportunities: short online courses, micro-mertifications, professional communityevents of networkingthe important thing is not to remain still. Widen and keep your “Employability” available means:
- Explore and keep market trends monitored.
- Confront with those who work in similar sectors to build coherent development paths.
- Approach gradually to new opportunities that can enrich our profile.
Proceed with small experiments
Change becomes more sustainable if it is progressive. Some useful strategies:
- Parallel projects: volunteering, collaborations, start-ups, side projects that allow us to test new identities.
- Ponte roles: temporary or transversal assignments to train new skills.
- Narrative tests: tell us in a renewed guise and observe how it resonates in others and in ourselves.
A plan with measurable, realistic objectives and with a temporal level, it keeps the motivation alive and reduces the feeling of risk.
Seek an external look at the crisis
Looking alone is not enough: The comparison with others is crucial to give meaning to the path e be able to observe also through an external look:
- A coach or a Counselor help to redefine goals and to elaborate new professional narratives.
- A mentor It offers experience, orientation and advice.
- A younger connect, with a different approach (reversce mentoring), can open new perspectives.
- The professional community give stimuli, comparison and often visibility to new opportunities.
A final suggestion from literature: Dante and the dark forest
The famous incipit of the Divine Comedy: «In the middle of the walk of our life I found myself for a dark forest, because the straight way was lost »describes the moment of existential loss preceding the journey to the transformation. Likewise, the mid-carer crisis can be read as a professional “dark forest”: a place of uncertainty, but also of potential rebirth Where to deal with your limits, face the doubt and disorientation, and then transform and get out of it enriched.
Organizations who know how to accompany e support their collaborators In these phases they become more resilient, inclusive and innovative. And the people who cross awareness with the crisis can discover unexpected energies and a newfound balance. It is never “too late”: it’s the right time for decide and choose who you want to be from here on.
Who is Monica Magri
I am an expert in the world of work and for over twenty -five years I have observed the changes. I work in human resources, I am coach and passionate about training and individual development: I love to intertwine these knowledge to accompany people and organizations in understanding transformations, finding new meanings and moving in change with confidence and clarity.
Lexicon of the new work It is a weekly space of questions and answers dedicated to those who want to orient themselves in a world of work that evolves quickly. Through keywords, reflections and concrete cases, this column offers ideas to interpret current challenges, discover new meanings and train a more conscious look at the transformations. Knowing and decoding the new rules of work means knowing how to read complexity, orient themselves with clarity and act more effectively.
You can write me to [email protected] For questions or suggestions: this column wants to be a useful comparison space to build together new reading and action tools in the world of work and personal growth.