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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?

#451
50 here. Spent half the last decade in prison. Lost my mom during that time. Climbing back up to where I want to be.

1. Depending on the relationship, you will never get over the loss of a parent. It's not something anyone ever said until my mom was passing/passed, and then everyone that had lost a parent told me that in private. It's ok to be that way and from what I can tell the norm.

2. I pretty much always had upper management/executive roles previously. When I got out, I worked sorting human/animal waste and worse at a recycling plant. I dug through filth/trash with a 'pull 60 pieces of cardboard out a minute from a high speed conveyor belt' no rest metric. Now, I am back to my previous social status level. Don't get hung up where you are, keep your focus on where you want to be. When you went to the USA you didn't complain that you were 'stuck over the ocean' because you knew in a few hours you would be where you wanted to go. You are over a desolate ocean for a little while but it's a passing thing (if you keep moving, if you give up, you are a permanent castaway).

3. Anger/bitterness is just self abuse. The Universe doesn't care how you feel or what is fair. So keep your head up, stand proud, turn that energy into something productive. My wallpaper says 'Bellum Romanum' because I put all my energy into countering the indifferent/adversarial system that wants to keep me down. You are a good man, you went to care for your father when so many are too selfish to do that. That put's you in the top 5% of people easy in my book.

4. Get some exercise. If you can, to the point you almost pass out from fatigue at night. That will help clear your mind of bs made up self defeating thoughts at night. Get your anger/hostility etc out here (but don't hurt yourself). Start super slow though, you hot enough, you don't need health problems.

5. You can still find someone and start a family.

6. The fact you reached out means you don't want to end things, you just want a break from the crap you are going through. Remember that. You want a break, not an out. A break, not an out. In prison, you look to 'get space from reality' in little ways. We would plan out weekend rice bowls or burritos for weeks. Plan things out, give yourself something to look forward to. Maybe it's making cookies, maybe it's a hike somewhere new. You need something to look forward to, and actionable steps you can take to get there. We were 'making moves' when we would get vegetables out of the kitchen, we were showing we still had some control, we were 'sticking it to the man'.

7. Stop unproductive things. If you are a computer geek single male, I'm going to go out on a limb. No porn dude. Your body/soul naturally want to push you to the whole family/connection thing. Don't short circuit that drive, harness it. You will find yourself way less numb without that garbage.

8. One day at a time. No one did anything instantly. Yesterday you took two steps backwards (or more likely, life/the Universe pushed you two steps backwards), that's ok, because you have today, and today you can work towards how you're going to get one of those steps back.

9. You want community? Make it. Every single person who doesn't burn you, deserves to be in your community. You are no better than anyone else, and people are not tools to get where you want, even if where you want is just healthy. So you be that community you want for everyone else (who hasn't burnt you). You will find yourself in an amazing community before you know it. I had people make sure 'I was good' on Thanksgiving. I had people push me to relationships with my kids so that on Thanksgiving, where by default I wasn't going to bother my sone, I called him and it was an AMAZING phone call. But that's because I had people who had my back, people that have been thrown away in the eyes of others every day of their life. How many people who are yearning for community too have you just looked past/looked through? Don't do that. See EVERYONE around you. They deserve to be seen, just like you want a community to SEE you.

I see you. You took care of you family. You are awesome. You are self aware enough to know you need a hand, and humble enough/willing to be vulnerable enough to reach out here. I would 100% be willing to have you in my community of friends. Keep your head up, keep moving, process your fathers death (remember anxiety is part of our grieving process, you lost stability with the loss of a parent and part of you will be in chaos), limit anger/anxiety/porn and other unproductive use of your energy, redirect to taking a step forward today, no matter how small, see people and treat them how you wish the world would treat you (as long as they don't burn you. Write off those that do, you gave them a chance). Make simple plans so you have things in life to look forward to (for me just waffles on the weekend can be that. Dude, waffle day is a good day. And grocery day is a good day because I'm getting stuff for waffle day vs I have no money to get what I used to eat and life sucks and poor me).

TLDR - You can do this. I can see the details in your post that show you will even if you don't see them.

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

#452
It's funny. I was recently in a rut like yourself since 2020. Aibet younger, 28. Total 180 as of last month

I work a good stable engineering job (mech, not tech), but am very bored of it. I clock in and out on autopilot. Unengaged

I have many interests, but I don't DO many things in my spare time beyond reading or consuming passive entertainment

I broke up with my girlfriend maybe 6 months ago, probably waited way to long to do so out of fear of being alone. Been on a few dates, but just going through the motions seeing girls who liked me but I felt apathetic about

I have seldom but a few good friends. I usually never initiate any outing, just wait for invites to trickle down my way, trying my best to shield sense of insecurity in my social life

-

For some reason last month everything clicked like getting hit with a sack of potatoes. I just got rejected by a girl who I thought I was pretty interested in

On our last date, I tried flirting with her in a way which was bold for me and out of my usual comfort zone (not creepy), but it felt extremely natural and right to do at that moment. It's funny. I didn't care about being rejected one bit beyond minnor sexual frustration. My pride in my honest approach stayed and lingered. And if she does not see the value of what I'm proud in, fuck it, nice girl, but we probably just aren't a compatible match! Nothing lost

It's weird how the (my?) brain works that way, but my confidence and pride in myself shot up through the roof instantly after and has stayed. It reminded me of some very important things:

1. Social life, career and dating are all connected in the sense that REALLY it's not about others or externalities; you do need to make an active effort to bump shoulders with others, but the effort becomes easy if treated primarily as a self improvement exercise. Take any steps no matter how small to become someone you'd be proud of

I thought to myself for a year "dammit, I want a job in X new field, but have no idea how to network into it, it's so hard!". Stayed dormant out of fear. Fuck it. I realised "Hey, I made a good impression with multiple friend's parents at a wedding… they worked long careers in something unrelated, why not blitz general advice from them? Can't hurt". I started calling them; a few duds, but others are really good at giving me soft advice. Just with small general tips, it lowered the anxiety bar to take action so much… the small things do pile up and can make you freeze up! It made me realise "oh ya, this isn't a scarry insurmountable task, I CAN do this, it DOES make sense for me and I DO have value to provide"

2. You may think you're inferior to others because you don't have X or Y. I did. But I realised it's not HAVING X or Y which makes you confident and fufilled, it's PURSUING X or Y, and all of us have all the agency in the world to purse what you want

I have been telling myself for ages I want to join an improv comedy group. I already knew there was a place by me that gives lessons. Never signed up, because, I was scared to feel like a loser I guess. Fuck it. When that girl rejected me, I drove down there the next day, asked the guys behind the counter "alright, your website is confusing, tell me where to start, I'm signing up today". It starts next year. The act alone of pursuing my interests just shot my confidence up so much. I'm becoming a person I love again, and all it took was signing a form

3. You probably have a ton of great qualities in yourself, and probably have flaws just like everyone else too. But what people will sense is if you are focused on your qualities OR flaws. Be kind to yourself; you have a lot to offer, focus on bringing that to people

Reading your post, I see a few things. In "the good" section, you mention many negatives. Severe procrastination, some savings from "that one time before when you were so much more cool than today", age as a negative. Dude, that stuff is fine! Everyone procrastinates sometimes, people have high and low points, people age. But telling yourself you're a severe procrastinator gives you an unconscious excuse to not make baby steps towards the life you want to live. Saying you're 43 unconsciously tells you you're too late in life to qualify for love or a good career. You're NOT. You're only too old once you're dead. Seriously

From your post, I can see you're a caring as fuck guy (moving countries to help your dad… like, you really cared!), intellectually smart and curious (post undergrad degree, posting in HN), very self observant. You may think that's small. No. Don't discount that. It's great. It's fine to speak about areas you want to improve with peers, but remember, you ARE capable and can do so

If you ever think you're lacking some qualities which you can achieve through action and are insecure about, just remind yourself of points 1 and 2. You can be proud of yourself today, and proud-er-er tomorrow with action

4. Don't be afraid to say no to things that don't feel right, don't be afraid to ask for what you want

I turned down some of the girls I was seeing before who I didn't care much about. As soon as I did, I noticed my mental bandwidth, focus and confidence rose. I know who I am, what I want… very nice girls, but I want more than nice on paper or would bring social validation. I CAN be selective. I'm worth it. With what I can offer, why settle for less

I recently went into a university psychology study for a girl I haven't spoken to since undergrad just for fun (we are all nerds here, studies are fun). Doing the study, I realised she is pretty cute, enough for me in the past to be scared to talk to her. Hmmm. Decided to ask her out over email once she gave me the study results like it was 1999. I was a little scared; I thought "oh no, do I look like a creepy weirdo? Does she think I did this study just to ask her out? She must have a boyfriend". She didn't. It worked. I'm seeing her this week. And if it didn't, I just wouldn't hear back from her while I'm still working on myself! Nothing to lose!

5. Peers help in so many ways. Humans are social and accountability is infectious. If you can choose between doing something you'd want alone (apply for job posting on linkedin) or with peers (message someone at X firm who posted that job on linkedin),try to always pursue the social option when apropreate. Always be pursuing new connections, as many opportunities in all categories in life can come from unpredictable connections. You will also develop commodore and be less lonely

6. Don't beat yourself up if you make mistakes or slip up, it's okay to have downtime after taking a shot at a step to make you happy. Be kind to yourself. I make mistakes everyday, but I don't lose anything with trying. When you get a few bites with progress, the confidence starts to snowball and your desires become much more clear

Sorry for the length, but I hope some of this will help. You got this. Feel free to reach out if you want to shoot the shit about whatever

Thanks for coming to my Ted talk

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

#453
post #117

Yes. I turned my life around at 43. Single, obsolete tech skills, lots of debt, personal issues. Began with taking a genuine inventory of my life and how I function, not just how I felt. I picked a constructive and structured approach to that, which looked a lot like CBT therapy but was something else. It was a life reset, clearing out all the baggage. It was very difficult but incremental and genuine over time. Afte…

The part about attention from women is very, very true. Obviously relationships are hardly the only thing that matters in life, but it amazes me how much more attention I get from women since I got my life together. Turns out a man who's figured things out and is doing reasonably well is very attractive.

The eyes never lie. Neither does body language; posture, tone of voice, conversational flow. All of those things change for the better when a person is genuinely content and secure with who and what they are.

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

#454
First off - thank you for reaching out - great step!

Yes, absolutely. I’m 44 and starting to thrive. You can too.

For me, going to therapy was key. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectic Behavioral Therapy are both effective and relatively short (Be patient and kind to yourself, we didn’t have a lot of these skills taught to our generation. 1980s was not a time known for kindness and acceptance, for others or ourselves.

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

#455

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Starting a family with twenty spouses sounds like a lot of work, honestly.

Well, that's why there were two of them.

Reminds me of chain marriages in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

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

#456
post #327

First, way to go! You've chosen to be vulnerable, and that is a great first step. Second, get a therapist. It may seem expensive, and not helpful at first, but as I'm sure you already felt in writing this post, just talking about your thoughts and issues really does help. Third, it's NEVER too late. I'm 42 and learning and growing daily. I've had to change a lot in the last decade to remain 1) relevant, and 2) in the…

Quoted post unavailable.

Recognizing and being willing to admit to others that you have an issue is a big barrier to mental healthcare though. People who won't do that don't see a psychiatrist. So OP has taken an important first step that is really difficult for some, and maybe was for him. Certainly he should keep the momentum going though.

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

#457
Read: How Will You Measure Your Life, by Clayton Christensen Man's Search For Meaning, by Victor Frankl

Look at examples of people with purpose and fulfillment in life that you admire, ask them what they do.

I recommend finding a faith community. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has amazing communities all around the world where anyone is welcome to visit and will find friendship and countless examples and help toward purpose and fulfillment.

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

#459
The suicidal ideation is a "bug" in our psyche.

Fully encompassing a structure where you understand that your mind is separate from you is very very important. Some useful modalities: - Integrated Family systems - Thinking of your mind as a tool that you control and use and which has major bugs. - Understanding that you are not your mind.

The other important thing you need is people you trust around you who are positive and can help you positively. Each has its own pitfalls but you can choose from: - therapist (probably the best if you can afford one and can find a good one) - church groups - buddhist centers (would recommend SGI - Sokka Gakkai International. You can find a chapter near you)

If something doesn't work and is making you feel negative. Cut it out immediately.

Start working on something you like relating to your past work experience.

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