Focus for my 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s...?
- personal995
- Nov 7, 2024
- 4 min read
Updated: Dec 6, 2024
“Thoroughly unprepared, we take the step into the afternoon of life; worse still, we take this step with the false presupposition that our truths and ideals will serve us as they have in the morning of life.”
Carl Jung
1. Start Where You Are
Simply start from where you are, without comparison or self judgement on where you or anyone else thinks you should be. Facing reality as it is, is a useful skill in itself.
Use The Path as a guide, and simply begin to work on yourself and make progress, enjoying the journey and process as you go.
This way you will meet yourself where you are and simply start building your foundations to progress from.
But if pushed to generalise, see specific sections below...
2. Focus for 20s
In our 20s, the focus is generally on self-discovery and exploration.
In this phase consider reviewing:
Emotions - to improve decision making, begin learning more about the source of your emotions.
Environment - review different options to discover where it may be you would like to live (local or distant), and find your community.
Self - as you gain more independence continually improve your relationship with yourself.
Explore - explore the world to better understand how it works and how your unique skills and experience could best contribute to it and benefit from it.
Knowledge - work hard to avoid getting caught up in any ideologies or fixed mindsets and instead use your youth and energy to absorb the world's Knowledge with an open mind. We all begin to get overconfident about our understanding of how the world works at this age, but it is not until we gain further experience that we realise how much more complex it really is.
3. Focus for 30s
In our 30s, the focus is generally on building and refining our path.
In this phase consider reviewing:
Financial Management - remain focused on building up your financial situation to ensure you are using time and compounding to your advantage.
Focus - further hone your ability to focus as you further refine and drive towards your goals.
Others - as you become more focused on your own path and goals, always remember to check in on your relationships with Others, so you do not lose touch with those you care about.
Observe - Continual look around for feedback to see what is working and what is not, to ensure you are self correcting effectively, to align your skills and experience with the reality of the world.
Practice - building upon Focus, learn to continual improve within your craft with purposeful Practice to give yourself an edge.
4. Focus for 40s
In our 40s, the focus is generally on deepening our purpose and relationships.
In this phase consider reviewing:
Compassion & Harmony - as responsibility and in turn pressure increases as we progress through life, refine your Compassion in your relationships and Harmony in your communications to ensure you are nurturing those who are most important to you.
Professionalism - do not forget to increase your professionalism as you progress more deeply into your craft / career. Professionals gain more trust, trust leads to growth.
Execution - in line with Professionalism above, focus in on your ability to execute work well. Many say they can deliver, but few deliver well.
Astuteness - continually hone your ability to accurately assess and navigate difficult circumstances astutely, to help avoid and overcome difficulties.
5. Focus for 50s
In our 50s and beyond, the focus is generally on legacy, wisdom, and contributing back to others.
In this phase consider reviewing:
Independence - at this point you are potentially in a position where the compounding of your skills, experience, network and finances allow you to exercise some more Independence, flexibility and creativity in your work.
Judgement - the compounding of your skills and experience will have improved your Judgement. Take this momentum and double down on it to make high quality decisions at increasing stakes and scale.
Selflessness - as your own situation compounds you are likely to naturally begin moving towards thinking and supporting others, either immediate family members, the local community or perhaps thinking globally, depending on your methods and means.
Holism - all of the knowledge and experience you have aggregated over your life will be coming together to help you realise the interconnectedness of everything and provide a more holistic view of the world. In turn, improving your decision making, increasing your empathy and ultimately providing you more fulfilment.
Peace & Joy - at this stage in life, generally you may be becoming more at peace with your self and your place in the world. Spending some more time to focus here has the potential to provide much joy to yourself and those around you over the years.
5. Read Biographies
If you still want to learn more, start a reading habit and learn from the lives of others or history.
Review the Library: Biography or Library: History to see what peaks your interest.
We wish you all the best. Enjoy and take care.
The team at STRATEGY OF ONE
