How to Start Over After 40

3 min readJan 31, 2020

Are you over 40 and afraid to start over?

When I say ‘start over’, I mean any of the following:

change careers
move across the country
go back to school
meet your soul mate
Get married, get divorced or something in between
Have more children
End toxic relationships
Improve your health and fitness
Change the way you eat
Travel more
Build your dream house
Slow down and rediscover your soul

The list could go on and on but if you’re 40+ and any of the above are on your mind, you’ve probably got an inner critic who counters every dream with some of the following points:

“You’re too old to change.”
“It’ll take too long.”
“It’s too late.”
“You’re beyond having to do all of that work to get there.”
“This isn’t the right time.”
“You invested so much time in that career, on that education, in that marriage. You can’t give up now.”
“You aren’t smart enough, young enough, beautiful enough, strong enough, energetic enough. You just don’t have what it takes.”
“No one’s going to take you seriously.”

And the list of inner critic raging could go on and on…

And, yet, so many people over 40 start over… COMPLETELY OVER…

They go from being construction workers to doctors.
They go from being doctors to artists.
They go from being paralegals to writers.
They go from being a stay-at-home parent to a corporate executive.
They go from being CEO to stay-at-home parent.
They leave NYC for Montana.
They venture out of Ohio and move to LA.

It happens every single day.

So how do you start over after 40?

Here’s what you do:

Decide what you want (literally, specifically and entirely- write it all down with pen and paper).
Decide what it will require (how many hours, days, weeks, months and years and what will you have to sacrifice to achieve that?).
Commit to the number of YEARS it’s going to take to get there (HINT: Most people are living into their late 80s/early 90s so, even if your dream requires 10 years to achieve, you’ll be just fine).
Create the plan (put it on paper).
Change every habit that doesn’t align to the version of you you’re seeking to become.
Drop the friends who aren’t supportive of your pending changes (drop ’em like it’s hot).
DO THE WORK UNTIL…
Celebrate along the way.
Don’t give up until you get there.
Repeat, repeat, repeat.

And the reality is simple:

You will be starting over for the REST OF YOUR LIFE. Don’t be afraid to start now.

Now is as good a time as any…

READY TO GET RID OF ALL YOUR EXCUSES AND FINALLY LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE?