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Ask HN: Has anyone here turned around their life in their 40s?

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Re: Ask HN: Has anyone here turned around their life in their 40s?

#11
I am not in a position to give advice to anyone but:

"The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the second best time:now" -- old Chinese proverb I believe.

Hope, in my experience is the most powerful force to help you turn things around. But at the same time, few things are as cruel as hope when it is crushed. Ultimately the choice is yours on whether you consider hope as worth having.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone here turned around their life in their 40s?

#12
You're struggling with visualizing how to start your ideal life. Like any task, it feels monumental because you're at the bottom of a mountain looking up. So start at the top - imagine your perfect day.

You identified a wife, job, maybe kids. You come home after a fulfilling day of work, have a nice dinner with the family, and feel a sense of content. Now rewind, and focus and focus on a single trail. What steps lead to this moment?

You came from work; where do you work? What do you do there? When did you start? Why did you ace the interview? How did you get the interview? What made you feel ready to interview?

Do this exercise for each facet of your life you care about, and work all the way back to the first achievable step. Then take that step.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone here turned around their life in their 40s?

#14
Regarding kids, wife and family, you are not late at all. A friend of mine had recently his first kid at 48, he is very happy.

If you need a framework for working with psychological issues, I recommend ACT (my wife is a psychology therapist and an expert in that field). It's possible that your current lifestyle or situation is not aligned with your values, so you may need to make some changes to better fulfill what is important to you. Changing can be difficult, but in Western society, we often try to avoid discomfort instead of embracing it. However, it's often necessary to embrace discomfort in order to thrive.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone here turned around their life in their 40s?

#16
Set goals. Start with small ones. "Turning your life around" is a bold statement but not necessarily very actionable. Figure out exactly what it is that you want, make a list. Rank them in order of priority.

Breaking things down into smaller pieces may help you get where you want to go. Good luck.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone here turned around their life in their 40s?

#18
First suggestion, get into therapy. If that does not work or cannot be afforded, or will take too long, go somewhere else for a while. Anywhere else. Doesn't have to be the US. Doesn't have to be your dream job. Every important breakthrough I made in my life was precipitated by changing my environment, at least temporarily.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone here turned around their life in their 40s?

#19
You can meet someone in your 40s. You might meet someone who already has kids and honestly, if you want kids in your life then much past 40 that’s probably the best way!

I cannot advise you on getting to the US, but it’s never too late to restart things in general. 40s is mid career, and the best of your life can still be ahead of you. I’m the same age, I’m still making plans to build and grow.

I’d advise some sort of educational refresher, see if there’s a qualification you can do that builds on (or converts) what you already have. If you want to be in tech then various places used to offer one-year conversion masters in software for existing grads. Another option might be to do a teaching qualification if that appeals.

The important thing is to make a start!

(And also I would seek some counselling for that suicidal ideation, it’s important to talk through this stuff with someone)

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