What I Know at 68 I Wish I Knew at 40

Hey everybody and welcome back to the channel. What I wish I knew when I was 40 years old. When I turned 40 years old, I felt like my life was finally beginning to come together. My 20s and 30s were pretty successful for me. And then at 40 years old, I made a very important vocational change which I was very excited about. I was launching something new. I was busy, productive, and I enjoyed what I was doing, and I believed what I was doing was right. And if you had asked me back then, I would have said, "I'm at the top of my game right now." Well, now I'm in my 60s, and the truth is, there are things that I understand today that I simply could not see when I was 40 years old. Not because I was careless, not because I was foolish, not because I was unwise or ignorant, but because some lessons are only learned and only become visible with time. And today, I'd like to share with you what I know now that I truly wish I knew when I was 40 years old. Now, there's a lot of things that I could say, but because of the sake of time, I will limit myself to only three. And here they are. Number one, your job will never love you back the way that you hope that it will. Your job will never love you back. Even if you absolutely love your job or your career or your vocation or your business that you started yourself, it will never love you back the way that you love it. At 40 years old, I felt my work was very important to me. I mean, after all, it was uh a decision of my own choosing. I choose I chose the route that I took. And in some ways, our career is an act of self-defin. I mean, after all, you have success and promotions. You're able to provide for your family. You're able to maintain a certain lifestyle. And all of these are good things. And in some ways, your job or your career, whatever you choose to call it, it really is the center of your life. But here's the brutal truth of it all. Your job is a transaction. You give your time, they give you money. That's it. No matter how much you love your job, it's a transaction. That's it. You give your time, they give you money. You've heard people say before, "Find something you love and you'll never work a day in your life." Well, whatever. It's still a transaction. I was doing what I absolutely loved. And um there were times I would say to myself, you know, I wouldn't even have to be paid to do this. But eventually I began to realize my job would never love me back the way that I loved it. Just remember this. The day that you retire, the machine keeps going without you. It really does. or if your health should fail and you're forced out, the company is going to go on without you, without even missing a beat. If you don't learn this truth early in life, the day will come when you finally realize that how much of your life's energy went into something that was never going to love you back that much. So, I've said all that to say this. Enjoy your job, make money, stack it up, enjoy your accomplishments, but keep your personal life and your work life in proper balance, and your future self will thank you. Number two, you might experience a midlife crisis, so you should be on the lookout for the signs. A midlife crisis is a period of time when people experience emotional turmoil for whatever reason, maybe some self-doubt, even anxiety. And this usually happens to people when they're in their 40s and sometimes even in their 50s. People become deeply dissatisfied with their life. They feel trapped in their job or trapped in a dead-end job. or they're bored or they're unfulfilled and maybe they're just saddled with too much debt and they can see no way to have a breakout. Sometimes during a midlife crisis when people are experiencing these kind of symptoms or emotions, feeling trapped, bored or unfulfilled, sometimes people will go out and make uh impulsive decisions like just abruptly quitting their job with no other place to land or having an affair or going out and making a very large and very expensive purchase which only leaves you saddled with buyer's remorse the next day. Now, mid a midlife crisis is a real thing and it can mess up your life. It really can. So, that's why I say you should be on the lookout for the signs. The last thing that you want to do at this age, somewhere in your 40s, is to go out and ruin your life, lose everything that you've got, and then have to start all over again. I remember when these same kind of feelings um hit me. I was in my 40s and I began having these thoughts. Well, Ronnie, this is it. Th this is your life. I've reached what I am to become. this is what I'll be doing. All those dreams that I had back in my 20s of what I would do and what I would be able to accomplish with my life, well, they were ju they were exactly that, just dreams. And there in my 40s is when I began to realize that some of my dreams that I had in my 20s would never be realized. My wife told me on one occasion, she said, "Ronnie, if you want to survive a midlife crisis, there better not be a crisis in our house. Now, this is when the reality of life begins to set in. I mean, you're struggling with a mortgage. You've hit a glass ceiling at work. Uh, you and your spouse may be so busy with conflicting schedules or work schedules that you're passing each other in the hallway like ships in the night. Your kids are teenagers now, you might even have an angry teenager in the house. And I mean it it really is like a pressure kettle that begins to build up. But I want to tell you something. If you begin to experience those kind of symptoms in your 40s, this can be one of the most important moments of your life, instead of letting it drag you down, you can flip it over and turn it into something positive. And here's what I did. Instead of seeing these kind of emotions as a midlife crisis, I viewed it as a midlife awakening. Big difference. Something quietly shifted in me. And I started asking myself, Ronnie, are you really spending your life the way that you want right now? Is my work, even though I loved it, is my work really worth the amount of energy that it's taking away from me? And Ronnie, what really matters most to you in life right now at 40 years old? This isn't the crisis. You know what it is? It's clarity. You begin to see see things differently. So instead of having a freak out and ruining my life, I began to rearrange my priorities. Instead of just passively coasting along, just taking what the man dished out, I took control of my life, I focused all of my energies into getting myself out of debt and paying off the mortgage, improving my health and my fitness, and maybe even most importantly, I began to develop hobbies and interests outside of work. I began to develop a life outside of work life. Essentially, I reprogrammed myself so that I could have the life that I've always wanted and not be stuck on the job all the way to the end of my life. I wanted to find a way to get out. And I'm glad that I did these things because my wife and I, we held it all together and eventually we were able to retire. We retired together. We left full-time work and we escaped the rat race. And right now, me and her are having the time of our life. The kids are grown. They're out of the house. We're empty nesters. We've been retired for four years. Everything's paid for. And we are just absolutely having the time of our life. So, if you're in a midlife crisis yourself or you're beginning to feel some of those symptoms, there's nothing wrong with you, okay? This is just a normal transition of life. There's nothing wrong with you if you're feeling those things. Just don't let it wreck your life. Instead, take control and focus on your future self, and you'll get there. And this leads me to number three. Life experiences become your greatest treasures. Ask someone in their 60s what they remember lost most looking back over their life. And it's not promotions, it's not payraises, and it's not professional perks. It's the family trips, the family gatherings, simple moments, and maybe even most importantly of all, laughter. Just the ability to laugh, have fun, and enjoy yourself. At 40 years old, these kind of experiences feel optional to you because you feel like you've got time for them later. But in your 60s, they're priceless. When you're 40 years old, you're building things. You're focusing on a bigger house, a newer and nicer car, more upgrades. And it's easy to believe that happiness is found one level higher. And then life teaches you something. Happiness and contentment takes a lot less money than you imagined. Don't spend your critical years chasing upgrades that will not upgrade your happiness. Focus instead upon your family and experiences and laughter and simple moments in life. These are the real treasures of life. If you're like me, your greatest happiness will be found in not having to work your fingers to the bone for the rest of your life or especially in your old age. I mean, there will come a time in your life when you just want to be free from it all so that you can do other things. And that's what I'm driving at. There are other things to do besides our careers. Now, when I was in my 40s and or looking back over the entire course of my life, I got a lot of things right. And there was a lot of things that I didn't get right. If I could go back in time and speak to my 40-year-old self, I would say this, Ronnie, protect yourself, protect your family, protect your marriage, protect your time, protect your health, and protect all of your most important relationships. And remember, life isn't something that starts later. You're living it right now. Well, that's all for now. I hope you've enjoyed the video. If you have, please be sure to hit that thumbs up button that you'll find down below and leave me a comment if you would. I'd like to know what you think. Please like, share, and subscribe. I'm Ronnie. Take care and we'll see you next time.