Discovering Your Life Purpose After 50

By Claribel Rojas

Is it ever too late to discover your life purpose?

My answer to this question is, “No way!” Take it from me—a jack-of-all-trades who never gave a thought to finding my passion until just a few years ago. You’re probably wondering how did that happen? How do you go through life not knowing what you’re meant to do for a career? Unfortunately, many people have done precisely that for years.

I grew up in a loving family of five in the hustle and bustle of New York City. My parents were hard-working people who instilled diligence in their children; they taught us that we must work hard, go to school and find a “good job” that paid us well. Although my parents had the best intentions for their children, they didn’t exactly know how to guide us in finding a career. As a student, I always had good grades and was always motivated to learn and improve myself, but I was somewhat shy and, having little academic guidance, I didn’t try to find help to discover my true passion. Fast forward to high school graduation, I did not immediately go into college but eventually decided to attend college while working a job. Shortly thereafter, my father passed away and, since I was his pampered baby daughter, I felt very sad and somewhat lost. Perhaps as a result, shortly after that, I decided to get married and form a family. I eventually graduated with an Associate’s Degree in Business Administration and continued to work in what I believed was a “good job” in corporate america.

As the years passed, our family got bigger; we had twins, a boy and a girl, and a few years later, another little girl. We were a happy family, devoted to our children, attended church regularly, and worked hard in our jobs. I had a good income, which I believed was the main goal I should strive for; however, I always felt that something was missing in my career. By the time my children were teenagers, I had worked in banking, finance, marketing, sales, information technology, real estate and the medical field. I had worn so many hats I was confused as to how to move forward. I had worked diligently and to the best of my abilities, probably because I had been groomed to do well at whatever it is I did, regardless of whether I liked it or not. However, interestingly enough, the average person works over 100,000 hours in their lifetime (AARP, 2016). Shouldn’t this motivate us to think about the great importance of loving what we do for work?

Over the course of time, I did a lot of home schooling with my children, and as a result, I discovered I was a natural teacher. For most of my life, I have been looking for ways to help others, including teaching some of my friends how to cook, bake, crotchet, gain computer skills, or whatever it is they wanted to learn from me. I also discovered that I really enjoyed listening to my friends’ and coworkers’ problems, striving to give them positive advice and to empowering them in some way. Ever since I can remember, people have warmed up to me and quickly and felt comfortable to share their personal problems or challenges with me. All these were “aha” moments; the more I thought or spoke about it, the more I understood that I needed to go back to college and pursue the career that would bring me fulfillment. Although, due to my busy life, it took some years for me to feel the time was right. Without a doubt, after the dissolution of my marriage and with three teenaged children who looked up to me, I finally knew it was time.

During the years that I wrestled with career dissatisfaction, I realized adults in various stages of life were embracing a career change.

In fact, research by The Conference Board in 2014 showed that half of all Americans are unhappy with their current job. In addition, AIER (2015) found that 82 percent of people over 45 made successful career changes. After much soul-searching, suggestions from friends, and career research, I made the commitment to figure out exactly what I wanted to do. I knew I had a passion for the psychology behind our actions, for guiding others to help themselves, and aiding them in finding solutions. So I decided to study psychology and become a personal life coach. It took much work and sacrifice, but I earned my degree in psychology and completed life coaching programs to become empowered to fulfill my passion. Now I am grateful for any circumstances that brought me to this point of self-awareness, self-fulfillment and peace.

I am now free to move forward in living a life that is in alignment with what I feel I was born to do. Not surprisingly, during my years of study and as I work in the field of life coaching, I see how every job I’ve worked has helped me in my business. I can happily say that I have no regrets to have taken the scenic route!

If my story resonates with you and you’re at that place of questioning your life purpose or would like to discover a new career, you might want to consider working with a life coach. The goal of a life coach is to help you discover your passion and assist you in achieving the goals that will bring you the fulfillment you desire. Through coaching, you can grow as an individual, achieve a higher level of happiness and find your own journey to create meaning in your life.

Is it ever too late to start living a life with purpose? Not in my opinion! In fact, making a change to live an authentic life has filled me with a lightness of spirit and renewed purpose that no one can take away. So, if you find yourself soul searching about your life purpose, open the doors; you might just find a new, brighter, more authentic future for yourself!

Claribel Rojas specializes in working with individuals who want be empowered, reduce stress, discover their life purpose or dream career. She also works with individuals who want to improve their relationships or who need healing after divorce. Contact Claribel at rojasclari@yahoo.com.

References:

The Complete Guide to Career Change After 50. http://www.learnhowtobecome.org/the-complete-guide-to-career-changes-after-50/

New Careers for Older Workers. https://www.aier.org/CCwebform-OWS

Porter, J. (2016, Aug) How to Change Careers When You Don’t Know What to do Next, Your Feelings of Restlessness are Actually a Blessing in Disguise. http://www.aarp.org/work/working-after-retirement/info-2016/career-change-when-you-dont-know-what-to-do-next-lr.html?intcmp=AE-WOR-CACG-FOLWPASS-SPOT3

 

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