One of the first tasks I complete whenever I begin to work with a new client is to learn as much as I can about them. I spend time with my client understanding who they are, and what makes them tic. I ask many questions about who they are, but unaware to them, each question I ask has two purposes and sometimes three. One of the first questions I ask my client is to tell me about who they are. The purpose of the question is pretty obvious, but the second purpose is to understand if they are identified with what they do, their jobs. Three out of five times, the answer will begin with what they do professionally, starting with the title. I am a “Marketing Executive” and I work for XYZ World Wide.
Try it for yourself the next time you meet-up with an old friend that you have not seen in a number of years. Ask them what they’ve been up to since you last saw each other. Listen to what they have to say and notice if they talk about what they enjoy doing other than work, if they mention anything at all.
Midlife Crisis: An emotional crisis of identity and self-confidence that can occur in early middle age.
Does a person whom becomes identified to his or her career become a candidate to experience midlife crisis?
Any number of life situations can trigger a crisis, aging, menopause, death of parents, children leaving home. In one study, less than 10% of people experienced midlife crises, due to their age or aging. In another study, it showed that some cultures are more exposed to experience midlife crisis than others. Middle-aged adults experience life events that caused added stress, or even depression in their life. However, it was reported that those events can happen anytime throughout a person’s life, and will not necessarily be the contributing factor to a midlife crisis.
So what really does trigger a “midlife crisis”, and are North American’s more susceptible to experience a midlife crisis than the rest of the world?
Have you identified your life to your career? Find out by contacting Bruno LoGreco, an International Master Life Coach Toronto
6 comments:
I often wonder if I am going through a midlife crisis or am I just hitting my stride. Is there a fine line between these two?
mee is a dog. mee likes to play wid my toys, bella and digger. i loves my dog people, peanuts budder and i really loves naps -- 'speshelly in the sunshine!
i has a job. i works wid my momma and poppa in our compnee. i only 2. mee not have midlife krisis yet. mee tink it is a people ting.
dey need more naps and more peanuts budder!! or maybe to run and play wid other dogs will help..
woof
boss
thanks for this bruno... i'd say that a midlife crisis, although it usually occurs in midlife ( ;-) ) it can happen at so many stages in life where goals have been frustraed or the realisation sets in that goals and/or possibilities have been missed in some way...
it's not particularly a north-american thing as far as i know, but i suspect it is one that is fairly intimately tied in with the work, success and achievement ethic which is rampant in western societies..
i've probably forgotten a whole lot here, but for the time being this is my take on an issue that affects me personally...
keep well...
Hi Chris, Boss and Bart!
Thank you for your comments.
Chris - I'm not sure what hitting your stride means. Is that like hitting a wall? Are you questioning who you are, your identity? Or are you feeling a bit stuck, feeling there is more to life than you are living?
Bart - I agree and don't think it's isolated to North America, however, I feel that in countries like U.S. or Canada, more often than not we are proud to have a title that carries some kind of authority. This is what we are told to do when we are children. Work hard, and we can make it to the top. My experience has been "live to work" in North America, while other countries "work to play."
I recall doing business in Belgium and every other day was a holiday (exaggerated)- lets not forget about afternoon fiesta in most European Countries.
I also agree that any number of issues can occur throughout a persons life which could leave a person depressed or feeling down, which then begs the question, is it really a midlife crisis the person is experiencing?
The first questions people ask you when you meet them tell you a lot about their focus in life and how they view themselves. Your views and reactions to their values, principles, and priorities, actually mirrors back a number of things about you, if you choose to notice. We are all teachers and we are also all students of life. It may be said that everyone is healing everyone else.
opppsss. Fiesta = Siesta (Afternoon nap)
I too am a strong believer that we do what we do because we see a bit of ourselves in other people. At the same time we help ourselves by taking the same advise we just gave another person. I practice what I preach.
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