4 Keys to Thriving After 40

Now that you're in your 40s, it doesn’t mean you have to slow down and just stick to survival mode. A lot of people feel like they have missed out on the prime of their lives after 40, but that's far from the truth. Now's the best time to really live. Today I'm sharing some of the ways that you can shift gears and start thriving after 40. 

Prioritize

If you don’t already feel like you’re thriving, then consider that you might not be prioritizing what’s important to you. Sure, you know how to make a to-do list and prioritize what needs to get done. But are you prioritizing your happiness? Are you prioritizing making time for the things that make you happy?

It can be hard to prioritize because you feel like you have to do everything. But it’s ok to decide which parts of your life make you the happiest and make those a true priority. It could be spending time with family, a specific passion, or something like making sure you are able to take a tropical vacation every 6 months to relax and refresh your mind. Whatever it is that makes you truly happy, this is the time to shift your focus and make sure you prioritize what’s truly important to you.

Learn to Let Go

Letting go goes along with prioritizing. When you start to prioritize your life, your happiness, and what’s truly important to you there’s no doubt you’re going to have to let go of some other things to create space for your priorities. This may mean letting go of old friendships that no longer feel positive or beneficial. This may mean letting go of a hobby you’ve been committed to since you got out of college that just isn’t exciting for you anymore.

Letting go can be hard, especially if it’s something that’s important to you or important to people around you. But learning to let go, and being ok with it, is one of the keys to thriving during midlife. When you learn to let go of what doesn’t suit you, you can make time and space for what fuels you.

Set Long Term Goals 

After 40, some people stop making long-term goals. They think that long-term goals are for younger folks, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. If you don’t have any long-term goals, find some! Maybe you want to buy a vacation home in 10 years so that you have somewhere beautiful to spend more time after retiring. Maybe you want to completely change your career after finding something you’re passionate about. Or perhaps it's starting a new business. Setting long-term goals gives you something to be excited about, something to strive for, and that’s important during any stage of life.

 Find a new passion

As we age, we evolve. And with that, we tend to find that our interests change. Maybe you're not as passionate about something you were obsessed with 15 years ago. If you find yourself bored with what you used to be passionate about, go explore new things. See what you can be passionate about now and take a deep dive into that.

This time is a great time to start exploring new things and figure out what brings you absolute joy! You know what you like, you know what you don’t, and you have the life experience to back it up. So use this time to thrive more than you ever have before. Life isn't over after 40!