Why age isn’t a factor in reinventing yourself at work

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Why age isn’t a factor in reinventing yourself at work

By Susan Kahn

Many of us will have moments in our lives when we feel stuck:

• When we have lost our passion for what we are doing
• When we evaluate ourselves and our work and decide that we want more
• When we want to be different

Sometimes these moments of clarity hit us when we are close to a breakdown and sometimes we simply have a conversation with someone who is energized and excited by what they do, and we think: I want to feel that again. Even though we recognize our potential, that we know the person we are today is not the person we could be in the future, we do nothing.

“People are not disturbed by things but by the view they take of them.” —Epictetus

What is it that holds you back??Have you given this question any thought? We all have so many opportunities to rethink who we are, the way we work, and what we offer the world.?Yet we do not always grab those opportunities.?We may feel that we are insufficiently skilled, or that we are going to be found out, that we will miss the security and camaraderie of the organization we know.? We may generate a myriad of excuses to stop us from leaping.

Age is one factor that can limit your ability to embrace change.?This could be because you feel too young, or too old. We might have outdated views in our minds about the right time to transform, take a career break, retrain, or launch a business.?

As the working population ages and our working lifetime expands, this is worth a fresh perspective. It is your unique challenge to carefully review what is holding you back—the false assumptions about what is open to you for your age, or how well you will function in an environment that might not typically host your age group.

The self-limiting belief that directs an individual to restrain themselves because of age is a negative view that can stunt growth and hinder development. Transformation might be different for a baby boomer than it is for Gen Z, yet wherever we are, change is possible.?There are technical and practical tools and techniques that can assist such a revolution, but much of our capacity to change is within us.

We might tell ourselves:

• It’s too late to change.
• I should stay where I am.
• I can’t be an apprentice unless I’m a Gen Zer.
• No one my age will be taken seriously.
• I look too old to work in tech.

Most of us will have these thoughts at some point, and it’s worth getting into the habit of questioning our thoughts, considering if there are other interpretations. One way to do this is through a self-inquiry method called The Work developed by Byron Katie.?She suggests we ask the following four questions:

• ?Is it true?
• Can you absolutely know that it is true?
• How do you react when you have that thought?
• Who would you be without that thought?

So, if we apply this model to the notion of whether or not you’re too old to reinvent yourself or the idea that you’re too inexperienced to embrace this opportunity, we can take on these four questions.

IS IT TRUE?

• What evidence do you have that you are restricted or limited by your age?
• What is in your imagination and what is a result of your experience and knowledge?
• When have you been told that you cannot apply or participate because of your age?
• When have you been rejected because of your age?
• Is this an assumption?
• Or is it an interpretation?

CAN YOU ABSOLUTELY KNOW THAT IT IS TRUE?

• Do you have absolute certainty about this belief?
• Is it possible that there is another way of looking at these facts?
• Can your assumptions and beliefs be challenged?

HOW DO YOU REACT WHEN YOU HAVE THAT THOUGHT?

• How does it feel to own the thought that you are too old to reinvent yourself?
• What does this do to your sense of self?
• What is the emotional and behavioral impact?
• How does it make you view yourself?

WHO WOULD YOU BE WITHOUT THAT THOUGHT?

• How would you feel about your choices and options if you did not hold tight to this thought?
• What other possibilities and interpretations might there be?
• What would you be free to do?

Applying these ideas to the obstacles you generate in your thoughts can help you move to the place you are aiming for, or at the very least allow you to give it a go and step on the path to reinvention. We can do nothing about the date of our birth, but we can do a huge amount to impact how we embrace and create opportunities for ourselves, no matter our age.

Essentially age is just one variable, alongside intelligence, communication skills, emotional intelligence, technical savviness, values, and personal ambition and drive.

There may be valid reasons why you may not be able to reinvent yourself right now—financial commitments, health challenges, or lack of clarity about your passion, for example—but age should not be one of them.?The limits of our biological age are self-imposed. Age is just one part of who you are—don’t let it define you.

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