A Tween on Growth Hormones

So I have a confession to make. Next year I turn 50. I have spent most of this, the last year of my 40s freaking out that next year I will be 50. 50 sounds properly grown up and a time of your life by which you should definitely have your act together.

I think part of the reason I am freaking out, is not because I want to be 25 again (I really don't, my liver couldn't take it) but it is more the insidious sound of doors closing, options vanishing. The feeling that time is running out, if you want to do something new or bold that maybe that moment has past, the time has been spent.

Sometimes you need to remind yourself that don't need to be defined by how others perceive you or even what your peers are doing. I for one am completely allergic to conversations that start with "When I am retired" and I don't think I am alone in that. I was reading an old book at the weekend and came across the Schwartz Exercise (that is not a catchy name but stick with me, its worth it, I promise).

Basically, the premise is this: your working life does not start at 24 and then finish at official retirement age of 65. Really, many people start their productive lives at 20 and can keep going till 80. Being productive can mean the work important to you, not necessarily a paid role.

So then you have 60 years of productive life. The trick is working out how much of that productive life is still ahead of you. Here is how the exercise works: take your current age and work out how many years you have left till 80, in my case that would be 31 years, divide it by 60 and multiply by 100. So in my case I have over 51% of my productive life ahead of me (curious to know what most people have?).

And that does change things, it changes your perceptions of what you have left and what you are capable of. Time is not an enemy to be chased down but rather it can open up before you, full of promise and opportunity.

At WorkJuggle we are ambitious, we may all be approaching mid life but really we feel more like a tween on growth hormones :) Part of this growth is officially launching Learning at WorkJuggle. The Learning side of the business has grown exponentially since Covid when online delivery changed everything. So this week I am very proud to launch the new WorkJuggle Learning website. It showcases all our work here from Early Careers, Returners, Design Thinking and much more, I really appreciate all the super testimonials from our customers, they mean so much to us.

Expect to see more from us in this space.

Watching

"Live to 100: Secrets of the The Blue Zones" on Netflix. Very much on trend for this article and totally inspirational.

Also Flora & Son. Really enjoyed it. I know Eve Hewson is a nepo baby but she is our very talented nepo baby!

Reading

"Never too Late to be Great: The Power of Thinking Long" by Tom Butler-Bowdon This is the book I referenced above. I read it years ago at the ripe old age of 42 when I was thinking about starting WorkJuggle. It feels very different reading back on it now, I don't love it quite as much but he still makes some really good points.

Till next time,

Ciara

PS As always we remain committed to widening the talent pool. Our latest flexible and remote roles are here.

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