Key pointsRelationships fuel success at every stage of life.
Midlife is a time to redefine goals and purpose.
Build a “Board of Directors” of mentors for guidance and to multiply your impact.
Relationships are so important for us to succeed in all capacities of life, from personal to academic to work. Schwartz et al. (2018) found that college students who were more socially engaged had an easier transition to college life and higher GPAs. Workplace friendships strengthen knowledge-sharing behavior (Wang et al., 2024). Meaningful engagement with others leads to more opportunities for success for us, and this is why we should be seeking multiple mentors to guide and support us in all of our goals. We never stop needing relationships, regardless of our age or accomplishments.
How well do you know yourself?
Do you have goals put aside?
What do you want to be known for?
Midlife is a turning point. It is both exciting and overwhelming. Just when we finally have the chance to put aside the obligations to others to fulfill goals (get a job, climb the career ladder, start a Family, raise children) that are put in front of us from childhood, we are left without many obligatory boxes to check. Sure, there is the goal to prepare for Retirement and financial stability, but we finally have an opportunity to create new boxes for ourselves. The possibilities are endless, ranging from Personal Development to passion projects to goals we’ve put off because there just wasn’t time before.
This is where overwhelm can set in—there is so much opportunity—it is hard to figure out where to start, and how to start. This is when many midlifers think, “Where do I start?”
Let’s start hereMidlife allows for a reevaluation of priorities. We can finally look at ourselves and ask:
Who am I?
What do I want the rest of my life to look like?
What do I want to be known for?
What do I want to do that I haven’t done yet?
This is the time when personal development, passion projects, and long-delayed goals come into focus. This presents a paradox for us. With the newfound freedom and additional bandwidth comes uncertainty. Most midlifers think they have to deal with the overwhelm by themselves, and many won’t go for their goals because they can’t find a path forward.
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This is where we need to focusRather than thinking of yourself as an individual, start thinking of yourself as a corporation. Not a small corporation. A large enterprise with many divisions: goals, passions, and personal development. Every successful corporation has a board of directors. Why not you?
Now, get yourself a board of directors just like you would if you were a corporation. Your board is made up of mentors who guide, challenge, and inspire you. You don’t need one mentor; you need as many as you can find.
Most people think mentorship is just for the workplace. But we are incredibly impactful in all areas of our lives, and midlife is the perfect time to expand on the areas we neglected or put off. Whether it is a friend who models balance, a peer who pushes you creatively and shares their expertise, or a colleague who opens new doors, each mentor helps move your vision forward.
We have the ability to make an impact even from small acts because they ripple out well beyond the initial completion. We have the opportunity to turn our ideas and dreams into a huge success by aligning ourselves and utilizing those around us as mentors to help us achieve our goals. Whether it is passing down traditions and values to family, starting a company, or pursuing a passion project, having a board of directors as our mentors helps us not only achieve our goals, but to do so more quickly, and to have a far-reaching impact.
This is because we are able to visualize and think of ourselves and our ideas in a concrete way that allows us to ask for specific things from mentors. It doesn’t have to be a huge ask that might overwhelm one person. It doesn’t have to be an ask that is too complex for you to complete on your own, or for one person to help you achieve.
We think of ourselves as not needing a mentor—that we should be able to complete our goals on our own—but no corporation does that. No nonprofit does that. So why should we? We are our own corporation with missions and visions and impact to make, so let’s get our own mentors to act as our board of directors to help us achieve all of the missions we have set for ourselves now that we are in the stage of life that affords us the Wisdom and the bandwidth to achieve these goals.
Your boardroom could look like this:
Empty Board Room Source: Pexels / PixabayOr it could look like this:
Full Board Room Source: Fauxels / PexelsThe choice is yours. Fill your personal boardroom with mentors who can help you succeed, or take the leap alone. Midlife doesn’t have to be a solo venture. Build your board of directors who will share your excitement, your vision, and help you navigate the unknown.
If you would like more resources by Deborah Heiser, click here.
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References
Schwartz, S. E. O., Kanchewa, S. S., Rhodes, J. E., Gowdy, G., Stark, A. M., Horn, J. P., Parnes, M., & Spencer, R. (2018). “I’m Having a Little Struggle With This, Can You Help Me Out?”: Examining Impacts and Processes of a Social Capital Intervention for First‐Generation College Students. American Journal of Community Psychology, 61(1/2), 166–178. https://doi-org.sunyoldwestbury.idm.oclc.org/10.1002/ajcp.12206
Wang, Yanling, Qin Lin, Shihan Zhang, and Nannan Chen. 2024. “Dynamic Relationship between Workplace Friendship and Knowledge-Sharing Behavior: Formation, Development and Decline.” Journal of Knowledge Management 28(7):2038-2061 (https://sunyoldwestbury.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com…). doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-03-2023-0264.
Originally Published on https://deborahheiserphd.substack.com/
