I’ve Turned The Page. Now, What?!

Starting over at midlife isn’t all rainbows and lollipops but it’s possible. The problem is when you feel you are ready to turn the page but you don’t know how to do it. Maybe you don’t have enough budget to invest in your new passion or maybe you don’t know what might spark your interests. I’ll tell you: start small.

Your passion may be right in front of you. However, many times, passion doesn’t appear out of anywhere. It’s something you’re curious about or you already do.

Most of them start with new skills. Musicians, artists and marathon runners all started their skills at one point and changed their life. The best part about learning new ones is that you can try some of them for a few days to get a feel for it. For instance, you might take a few classes (plenty of free workshops online) and figure out if it’s right for you.

Sometimes, you had to tap to your inner source. Are there any interests you neglected along the years that you wanted to develop at that time but you couldn’t? Well, this is the right time to explore them. I am sure, there are probably so many things you still want to do but have always been afraid to do them. Well go, do them.

However, passions and interests are not fixed. So, don’t panic if you don’t really know how to re-ignite your sparks. According to a Standford University study: “finding your passion presupposes that your passions are fixed, rather than fluid and evolving as we age and gain wisdom and experience. The belief that interests arrive fully formed and must simply be found can lead people to limit their pursuit of new fields and give up when they encounter challenges. Urging people to find their passion may lead them to put all their eggs in one basket but then to drop that basket when it becomes difficult to carry.”

So, instead of ‘finding your passion‘, the authors suggest that ‘develop your passion’ is more fitting advice. Do some research to see how you can get started and what is required to do your new thing.

If you look at something and think: that seems interesting, that could be an area I could make a contribution in, you then invest yourself in it- said Stanford psychologists Gregory Walton-. You take some time to do it, you encounter challenges, over time you build that commitment.

The best thing to do is to get out of the mindset that you have to ‘get through’ the day and get into the mindset that the coming hours are filled with open-ended potential for you to take action that will change your life forever. The only difference is your willingness to see things differently, and your effort in trying to make them better.