At 53, Stefan was at the pinnacle of his professional journey… yet he felt as if he was wearing a tighter and tighter-fitting mask that obscured his true identity.

Stefan met with me because he felt overwhelmed by the thought that it was too late to do anything about his career situation. And he could no longer suppress his true emotions about his situation.

I assured him that what he was experiencing was natural. In our 50s, we crave freedom and a work-life alignment that reflects who we are at our core. Earlier in life, these values are rarely on our radar because of the weight of responsibilities.

We took a trip down Memory Lane. In his 20s, Stefan quickly rose to the top account management position at his company. In his 30s, he made a series of minor career shifts. In his 40s, he was in the C-suite, managing huge budgets.

Together, we reflected on his career milestones. He began to see that he wasn’t too old for change.

Instead, he was in a perfect position for one. He had been simply looking at it from the wrong angle.

He deserved to prioritize his own happiness.

We reframed the myth of being too old, too late as having the necessary wealth and breadth of experience to fuel his midlife career change. With this awareness, Stefan uncovered a vast reservoir of creativity within himself.

And so we began to map out his path to alignment.