What is mid-career for?
Thinking from an opportunity-maximization framework
Before diving into the essay, a quick note:
It's been a year since I published regularly here.
That's because, as many of you already know, my partner and I had a baby 🍼 last November. It's been a beautiful, wild, fun experience. And for obvious reasons, it's made it difficult to find the time - not to mention the mental juice - for writing.
As we move from summer into fall and the days shorten, I'm starting to feel more and more like myself again.
While I wouldn't say that we've figured everything out, I do feel like lately we've entered a new phase of stability and predictability. The baby is doing well, thankfully.
And as I've had the chance to rest and find a new sense of spaciousness, I've felt urge to dip my toe into writing again.
If you're still opening these emails and sticking with me on this journey, thank you!
And as always, if you have any feedback, please share it. I’d love to hear from you.
“What is mid-career for?”
It's a question that I've been thinking a lot about lately. And something I know is on the mind of friends who are at similar stages in their life. There's something about reaching the halfway point of any big undertaking (in this case, one's “productive” working life) that invites a process of questioning and reflection.
Something I hear often is that we're now entering our "peak earning years." That when thinking about mid-career decisions - like what roles, titles or companies to pursue - approaching them from the standpoint of building savings for retirement should be the top priority.
Of course, this makes a lot of practical sense.
The buffet won't stay open all night. So fill your plate while it's laid out.
It is true that at this stage, working professionals have typically gained the experience and skills to advance to management or leadership positions. And that these shifts into higher-tier roles typically come with pay increases that significantly outpace the slow and steady wage growth of early career.
But if you're like me, you may find that thinking in terms of earnings maximization alone leaves you feeling a bit… uninspired.
Sure, money helps buy freedom, security, peace of mind among other things.
But in a very concrete sense, these are non-linear outcomes. Beyond a certain point, further increases in earnings do not yield comparable additional benefits.1 Incremental happiness - if we can conceptualize it as such - inevitably levels off over time.
In my view, there's a far better framework for answering the question, "What is mid-career for?"
The Two Curves
Over the course of a lifetime, people are continuously traversing two curves.
The first is what we might call the "Stability Curve."
As we advance in our professional careers, we become more established. We build savings. We stabilize our family and living arrangements.
We establish ourselves, not just in a material sense but in an identitarian sense as well.
We build knowledge, skills and self-awareness. We might even come to define a more precise and authentic vision for the impact we wish to realize in the world.
The second curve is what we might call the "Vitality Curve."
Though we might not like dwelling on it, the inevitable fact is that as our bodies and minds break down as we age. Some research has even suggested that our cognitive intelligence peaks around the early 20s and already begins to decline from there onwards.2
It becomes harder for us to access the energy, ambition and drive that came so easily in youth.
We become more risk-averse and gravitate more to familiarity than novelty.
Somewhere in the middle of life, which for most people falls around the 30s and 40s, is a unique moment when two curves intersect. In this zone of opportunity, we have easy access to both stability and vitality.
When I think about my own journey in these terms, I find myself thinking about the question "what is mid-career for?" in a new light.
Mid-career isn't just for doubling down on the income-maximizing path, pursuing promotions and pay raises. For some people, it might be the time to veer off the path. To pursue calculated risks. And to deploy earned capital as needed to be able to absorb those risks.
In other words, the great gift of mid-career might not be the chance to maximize earnings, but rather the chance to maximize opportunity.
What good is doubling down on padding the retirement nest egg to the max - if it comes at the cost of taking the time to dig deep and ask: what do I really want to commit my remaining time, energy and efforts to, and what do I need to do to get on that path?
Optimize for time, not money
Life is short.
If you are already on the path of your calling, doing things that bring you fulfillment and make you come alive, then congratulations. Keep going.
But if you are unambiguously not on that path - or even if you’re just feeling “meh” or unsure about the path you’re on - perhaps now is the time to stretch yourself, to get out of your comfort zone and think about something new.
It's not always necessary to make a grand gesture like quitting your job tomorrow to do this. Right where you are, in your current role, you could start revisiting and re-crafting your vision for your career. And, when doing so, thinking bigger about what’s important - on wider terms than just the purely financial.
Why is earnings-optimization ultimately a flawed framework for mid-career? Because optimizing for money alone is a sub-optimal use of our limited time.
In the end, money does not buy us more time on earth. What is truly valuable is time itself.
Don’t let the money games confuse you or lead you astray.
Mid-career is for optimizing our time - time doing work that matters to us, on our terms, during the phase in our lives when we have both the means and the energy to do that work. This is the key to building a fulfilling life and career.
Kahneman, Daniel, and Angus Deaton. “High Income Improves Evaluation of Life but Not Emotional Well-Being.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 107, no. 38, 2010, pp. 16489-16493, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1011492107.
University of Virginia. "Cognitive Decline Begins In Late 20s, Study Suggests." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 20 March 2009. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090320092111.htm>.