The Mid-Life Ritual

The mid-life ritual
is a way of assessing the first half of your life and working out your
ambitions from now on, and there are five steps:

1. Assess Life So Far
Be honest and look at whether you're ahead or behind in the goals you had when
you were younger.

2. Think About Your Achievements
This isn't just about qualifications, but other things you're proud of,
relationships or helping someone else to success.

3. Learn From It
Think about what you'd do differently now, based on poorer decisions you made.
But don't be too harsh on yourself.

4. Consider Your Ambitions Now
"The future can be a lot better than the past, even if the past was
great," say McCartney and Rowland Smith. "Even if you plan on
retiring at some point in the next two decades, you can still set goals,
whether these are professional or personal."

5. Work Out How To Fulfil Them
Work out your ambitions, and then break them down into smaller, more manageable chunks. This may be easy to read in black and white, but could be harder to execute, especially if you have fixed ideas about yourself and your abilities.
If someone is told they have no talent for playing an instrument, pursuing a
particular career or even something like baking when they're younger, that
message can stay with that person for a long time.

But McCartney and Rowland Smith say you can change your attitude from fixed to growth. "Once you start imagining your second half as a period for new growth, rather than decline or fixity, you will start behaving accordingly, and new opportunities are likely to arise."