Have you ever felt like your career has plateaued? Do you feel anxious about the uncertainties of the future? When change happens, do you have the courage to embark on a new chapter in life?
This is a practical guide to gracefully navigating the second half of life. Rather than struggling aimlessly on the downhill path, why not transform this process into a new force? This force differs from the happiness we once sought; it is deeper, more enduring, and may even lead you to discover the true meaning of life.
Career Decline: A Reality You Might Face Sooner Than You Think
Nearly everyone who pursues a high-skill career will eventually encounter a career downturn between their 30s and 50s. I know, many may not want to hear this, but it’s a reality. Worse still, the greater the success someone achieves in their career, the steeper their decline might be.
Take athletes, for example—one of the earliest and most obvious professions to experience career decline. Athletes in explosive sports like sprints typically peak between the ages of 20 and 27. Endurance athletes, on the other hand, may reach their peak later, but still, their best years are in their youth, meaning they must find a new career by their 30s. Though they may not like this reality, most athletes come to terms with it.
Professor Benjamin Jones of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management spent years studying when scientists are most likely to make groundbreaking discoveries and inventions. After examining more than a century’s worth of Nobel laureates and major inventors, Jones found that scientists often make their most significant discoveries in their 30s. He pointed out that, between the ages of 20 and 30, the likelihood of major breakthroughs steadily increases. However, after 40, the chances of making significant discoveries decline sharply.
Of course, there are exceptions. But, the probability of making a major innovation at 70 is roughly the same as at 20—virtually nonexistent.
This pattern holds true in other fields as well. Writers often experience their career peak between the ages of 40 and 55. Financial professionals perform best between the ages of 36 and 46. Doctors tend to reach their peak in their 30s, after which their skill level gradually declines.
For entrepreneurs, the trend is particularly intriguing. Founders of tech companies often achieve fame and fortune in their 20s, but by their 30s, they begin to lose their creativity. By middle age, their entrepreneurial drive significantly decreases. Even the most optimistic estimates suggest that only about 5% of founders continue to thrive beyond 60.
This pattern isn’t confined to intellectuals; professions like police officers and nurses also experience a decline in skills related to age, with their career downturn often arriving earlier than expected.
Generally speaking, creative careers peak around the 20-year mark, meaning people typically experience a career downturn between the ages of 35 and 50. This 20-year period is the average for many fields. However, Simon’s research revealed that many variables exist. For instance, in various industries, professionals often reach their career peak halfway through their career.
What Does This Mean for Us?
For most people, entering a career decline is not only shocking and unpleasant but also deeply confusing. Why does this happen? We were taught that practice makes perfect, and many studies tell us that 10,000 hours of practice can make someone an expert in their field. In other words, repetition leads to mastery—this is one of life’s rules. But then, we realize it isn’t quite that simple.
In middle age, the prefrontal cortex’s efficiency declines. This means, first and foremost, that quick analysis and creative thinking abilities diminish—exactly as we see in evidence of career decline. Secondly, some skills that used to come easily, like multitasking, start to become more difficult.
Another skill that declines is memory, especially the ability to recall names and facts. By the time you turn 50, your brain is like the New York Public Library, crammed with information.
A person’s sense of loss due to career decline is directly related to their past achievements and their attachment to those accomplishments. If a person had low expectations for themselves, whether they were passive or active, they might not feel much loss when they experience career decline. However, if someone has enjoyed significant success and achieved great things, the inevitable downfall can leave them feeling abandoned by society, useless, and in pain.
Early success doesn’t guarantee that you won’t face this pain later in life. In fact, studies show that those who are driven by power and success in their careers often report unhappiness after retirement, compared to those who are less attached to fame and fortune.
Therefore, career decline represents a double blow: On the one hand, we feel the need to achieve greater success to avoid unresolved feelings; on the other hand, as we age, maintaining our previous level of success becomes harder. But in reality, it’s a triple blow—when we attempt to balance our desire for success with the decline of our skills, we often fall into unhealthy habits, like becoming workaholics. This leads to unhealthy relationships, sacrificing deep connections with spouses, children, and friends. When retirement arrives, we may find ourselves isolated, with no one around to lift us up or offer support.
What’s Next?
Those who are driven must accept the following reality: By the time they reach 30—or even later, in their 50s—they will enter their career decline. The skills they once acquired through hard work, which earned them admiration and success, will gradually fade. Sorry, but this is the reality of life.
So, what will you do? There are three doors in front of you:
Door 1: Deny reality, refuse to accept mediocrity, and angrily fight against the decline, but this may only lead to frustration and disappointment.
Door 2: Shrug it off, accept the reality, resign yourself to fate, and view the decline as an unavoidable tragedy.
Door 3: Accept reality—the skills that once propelled you to success are now in the past. Life has become ordinary, but you need to acquire new strengths and skills.
If you choose Door 3, then congratulations—your future is bright. But to enter this door, you need to master new skills and new ways of thinking.
Developing Your Second Curve
As you age, your ability to express yourself improves. Compared to your younger years, your vocabulary grows larger, and you possess a greater ability to articulate thoughts. This means you’ve developed new abilities. For example, you might become better at word games and have a higher proficiency in foreign languages—not necessarily perfect pronunciation, but a broader vocabulary and more accurate grammar. Research supports this phenomenon: throughout life, both in your native language and foreign languages, your vocabulary will continue to grow.
Similarly, you might notice that with age, people become better at synthesizing various ideas and putting complex thoughts into practice. In other words, while they may not come up with innovative ideas as rapidly as when they were younger, they are better at applying familiar concepts and explaining abstract ideas clearly. They are also adept at understanding others’ thoughts and can often articulate them better than the original thinker.
For certain careers, these delayed abilities are extremely useful.
Fluid Intelligence and Crystalized Intelligence
In 1971, Raymond Cattell published a book titled Abilities: Structure, Growth, and Action, in which he proposed that humans possess two types of intelligence, each of which manifests differently at various stages of life.
The first type is fluid intelligence, defined as the ability to reason, think flexibly, and solve new problems. This is what we typically refer to as “innate intelligence.” Researchers have found that reading ability and mathematical aptitude are related to fluid intelligence. Innovators often have strong fluid intelligence. Cattell observed that, during early adulthood, fluid intelligence is at its peak, but by the 30s and 40s, it starts to decline rapidly.
The second type is crystallized intelligence, which refers to cognitive abilities based on accumulated experience. Crystallized intelligence grows with age, from the 40s to the 60s, and doesn’t start to decline until late in life.
Fluid intelligence is the ability to solve abstract, decontextualized problems; crystallized intelligence is knowledge acquired through cultural adaptation and learning. In other words, when you’re young, you possess the wisdom bestowed by nature; when you’re older, you possess the wisdom you’ve learned through experience. When you’re young, you can create and generate facts; when you’re older, you can understand the meaning of facts and apply them in practice.
If your career entirely depends on fluid intelligence, you will indeed reach your peak early in your career and then enter a decline. But if your career requires crystallized intelligence, or if you’ve successfully transitioned to a profession that relies on crystallized intelligence, your career peak may come later, and your decline will happen later.
In industries that require both fluid and crystallized intelligence, career peaks tend to arrive later. In fields that depend almost entirely on accumulated knowledge and applied skills, professionals often reach their peak later in life, such as historians or educators.
Letting Go of External Things
To move from the first success curve to the second, we must not accumulate more external possessions, but instead, understand why this strategy doesn’t work and start letting go of those things to move forward with a lighter load.
Here are three equations that explain our impulses and why we always seem to want more:
- Satisfaction = Getting what you want continuously
- Success = Constantly wanting to own more than others
- Failure = Having less
- Seek the “Why,” Not the “What”
If you’re ready to manage your desires and begin gradually reducing them, the first step is to think about what to reduce. This brings up an important question: “Why are you living?”
Studies show that most people who go through hardships or major life changes start to focus more on the why—on their reasons for living, rather than external rewards. This approach brings a deep sense of peace.
Summary: How to Gracefully Navigate the Second Half of Life
The second half of life isn’t the end; it’s a new beginning. At this stage, we need to face the changes in our career, transition from fluid intelligence to crystallized intelligence, and release external distractions to find fulfillment. The most crucial part is cultivating deep personal relationships with family, friends, and colleagues, as these connections are the foundation of happiness and well-being in our later years.
Are you ready to embrace your second spring?