Career Transitions: I'm 42, and I don't know what I want to be when I grow up.  How can I find help figuring it out?

Having the right goals in place is fundamental to successfully achieving them, and for that achievement to really contribute to your happiness and life satisfaction. So the number one priority at this stage is getting clarity on what your priorities actually are!A great way to do this is to define your personal values, getting to a list of your top three is ideal. Then ask yourself if these values are really reflected in your career and your lifestyle today. If not, you can go about setting goals that are aligned with those values, and then creating an action plan to achieve those goals. What is it about your current career that makes you want to leave?Signs that you should move on: You’ve stopped learning and growing If every aspect of your role starts to feel routine, if you’re constantly bored and you feel you no longer have any opportunities to grow either in this role or in another role at your current company, then you’d do better to seek a new challenge. Sometimes you just need a change to shake up your existence and get you onto that steeper learning curve again. The positives no longer outweigh the negatives If your salary no longer makes up for the stress and overtime, if the fun times become less and less frequent, if the interesting projects no longer compensate for the dull tasks, then you may want to look for a job where the balance is more in your favour. No job is going to be fun all of the time, but it’s up to you to decide what you’re willing to put up with. Everything is “fine” Sometimes things are not terrible, they’re just okay; fine. Is that how you want to live your life? Sort of average, things plodding along but with no passion, no excitement, no real feeling of fulfilment? Sometimes it’s not a question of a major crisis but you simply feel: there must be something more to life than *this*. Something more than fine. You live for the weekends If you’re counting the days to the weekend already on Monday morning, and counting the hours until you get home as soon as you arrive in the office, then something is wrong. Yes work can be tough sometimes but it’s also supposed to be rewarding, and fun! If you hate those hours that you’re spending working – whether it’s four hours or forty or more – then no amount of ‘life’ after work is going to make up for that. You’re getting dangerously close to burnout We all work hard, staying late for a tight deadline, checking emails while we’re on holiday, going the extra mile to deliver a perfect presentation; but if you’re staying late every day, if you’re constantly feeling anxious and stressed, if you’re not looking after your health… that’s when it might be time to take a break or find a more balanced lifestyle. Your values are misaligned with the company’s If you find yourself disagreeing with the overall company direction, or your boss’s decisions are counter to what you believe, and fundamentally you realise that your values are not aligned with those of the company, the right thing for both you and the company will be to find a role that’s a better match for what you believe in. It’s can be soul destroying to work for something that you don’t care about or, worse, you think is wrong. You have a burning desire to do something else If your gut tells you it’s time to move on, if you have a passion that you’ve been dreaming of following for years, then now may be the time to make it a reality. Maybe you have a business idea that’s clearly formed in your head, or you want to do something more creative, or you simply want to go and travel the world. This is maybe the best reason to quit, as you’re not just escaping from something bad, you’re escaping to something great.Questions you can ask yourself: What is my current job giving me (in terms of tangible benefits as well as things like satisfaction and growth)? What’s missing? Where am I headed in my current role? (This is also a question for your boss.) What is most important for me: job security, a high salary, learning and development, managing a team, etc.? What are the transferrable skills I have developed in my current career? What are my personal strengths? What are my interests, both professionally and personally? Where do I see myself in five years? Ten? What would a career change at this stage give me? What to do next:The next steps will depend on your reasons for wanting to change, and your answers to those questions above. You may decide that you simply need to change to a similar job in a different company, or perhaps a different industry; you may be looking to move into the non-profit sector; or maybe you want to start your own business. As a general guide, if you haven't already I would advise you to do some research on what it would take for you to make that move.Have a look at the roles that are currently being advertised: Does your profile fit the job description? Are there skills that you need to develop, courses you need to take, in order to be qualified? What books can you read about this new industry or field to get better informed? What conferences and networking events can you go to in order to connect with people who are already there?Money is often the biggest concern for people making such a big change, especially if you're facing the prospect of a cut in your salary. If this is a worry, then it’s best to sit down sooner rather than later and take a proper look at your finances. Do you need to start cutting down on your expenses to have a buffer for when you decide to quit? How long will it take you to save this amount, i.e. what deadline can you give yourself to actually quit your job?If you’re really unsure of whether the career change is the right move for you or not, or what move to make, or perhaps you just want some extra support from someone who is objective and unbiased, then you can also consider working with a career coach.Good luck!

At 42 you probably have a broad skill set in a variety of subjects. Try freelancing and test out what you do/like the best. The great thing about freelancing is that you can do it part-time and still keep your day job. Maybe it will lead you into a career of full time consulting, maybe you'll meet someone in an industry you love in the process. Freelancing is a great way to test the waters and still get paid.

There are tools you can use online to find out what career is best for you based on certain factors like own preferences on questionnaires asked. Try this Best Jobs for You tool from PayScale. See http://bitly.com/1rq84Ek The same site also reports you can read about the best colleges and universities and a list of recommended college majors. See http://bitly.com/1kXtY4w and http://bitly.com/1rOeCRK .

Your post made me smile, because for me, 42 is very much grown-up. But I can understand your sentiment. I think you probably feel bored with life, and that everything feels routine. Don't discard your current lifestyle so fast yet. Take a temporary hiatus. When is the next time you get a vacation for 2 weeks or so? Go somewhere where things are very different from your current situation.  Sometimes when we are in the same place, we end up in this automated mode where we think the same thoughts and do the same things. A new place might mean new thoughts and new actions.  If that's not feasible, seek out new experiences that could potentially expose you to new careers. Perhaps you will realize that your current career is just fine. Another thing you could try is to change your location, but keep the same job. It may be that you are bored by your routine, not your job per se.

That depends upon how much you want to 'grow up' before you want to addressing yourself to this issue. At 42, if one is in a profession that does not make them contented and hopeful about the future, it is about time to look for an alternative, else there is a life of misery staring at you!

Here is some feedback I've offered for those in your positionI'd suggest you reflect on what makes you happiest and figure out how you can do more of that. What do you enjoy doing the most? What would the perfect day look like to you? In 10 years what do you want to say you accomplished? What do your friends and co-workers ask you for help with I'd recommend you take a look at these two free resources. http://www.scottanthonybarlow.com/idevaffiliate/idevaffiliate.php?id=145 I'm not sure what kind of career movement you've had but there is also a chance that you feel stuck, bored or perhaps not getting the respect you feel you deserve.  If that is the case check this out - http://thevelocitylabs.com/ - there is also a framework here I call Ditch, Fuse, or improve that might help. Good luck!

Find a mentor. I've seen a lot of up-and-comers get ahead simply by having a chat with a mentor in the field. The benefits of chatting with a mentor are limitless, but some key benefits are: Get insider insights Learn what key things really work to get ahead Network If you want to find a mentor, check out: https://www.wisewords.co/ - 5,000+ mentors available for a call (our site) http://www.mentors.ca/findamentor.html - great list of mentor resources

Frankly, there are two things you can do. Go to the net to download: 1) Career Directions Inventory; 2) SWOT Analysis Grid; Upon completion of the first one, you are likely to get a rough sense of your career inclinations, even though it's not rocket science. The second one will help you to ascertain the  aggregated value of your job experience. More mportantly, it allows you to relook at your whole  situation, by doing a proactive  self-assessment in the form of a  Personal  Vulnerability Audit, using  the industry-strength SWOT  Analysis Grid,  often used by businessfolks. The grid can be used in a personal setting. For your kind information, SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. It comes basically as a four-box matrix. S    = personal Strengths or areas you do well or you have advantage,    whereby they can use them to support your personal goal achievement; W = personal Weaknesses or areas you need to improve, failing which they may prevent your personal goal achivement; O = Opportunities or  external factors that you may want to exploit so as to contribute to your personal goal achievement; T     = Threats or potential problems and/or risks caused by external    factors  that you may face in the course of your personal goal    achievement; The  SWOT Analysis  allows you to take a  macrocosmic  view of the external  political,  economic, social,  technological, legal  and environmental  factors, as  well as a  microcosmic approach in viewing  your internal  factors from  the  standpoint of your personal strengths  and personal  weaknesses within  the company. In tactical execution, it gives you the potency to explore and profile: - your proactive actions to pursue opportunities that are a good strategic fit for your personal strengths; - proactive actions that use your personal strengths to reduce your vulnerability to external threats; - proactive actions to overcome your personal weaknesses  in order to pursue opportunities; - defensive actions to prevent your personal weaknesses from making them susceptible to external threats; Ultimately,    the audit with the SWOT Analysis Grid will give you a sense of reality   about how well you can mesh - in terms of strategic fit - your personal  strengths and weaknesses with  the market opportunities available as  well as the prevailing and emerging potential threats out there.

First let me say that you are in a very good position. Having a job you like and a work environment you like is far more than most. And my first response is if you like what you are doing then why do you want to change?  I mean it sounds like you have been able to follow you passions as well as maintain a healthy work life. My second thing is the idea of growing up or following your passions. No one ever grows up. We go through phases where we believe we are more mature or adult like than others but the fact is that we are little kids until we die. There is always someone older than us to give you advice or look up to. And inside us all we have that free kid floating around. However that being said by age standards you are already grown up. You have a wife and a career and a full hobby. There really isn't much more to being an adult than having responsibilities and dealing with them. So you will never grow up and you are already grown up. Lastly, the idea of following your passions or your heart is too vague to be real. Is your passion bowling?  How much would you long and hurt for it if you couldn't do it anymore. Passions change just like careers.  From my experience those with careers in things people consider passions or hobbies (like entertainment) usually never considered doing anything else and got extremely lucky.  I would give up the notion of following my passion. It is not a useful notion. Rather think of a goal and go after it. Yes I am sure there is no money in bowling but someone makes money doing it. So it is not entirely devoid of commerce.  However I think you will find that the commerce of hobbies is not always the same or as fulfilling as the action of hobbies. Just like the business of entertainment is not glitz and glamor.  If you really want to do something just do it and stop worrying about whether it is a hobby or career. If an opportunity presents itself to make money off of your hobby do it. I think you are doing fine just overthinking your life.