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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To ask what advice you would give to yourself at 40?

86 replies

HamnetandJudith · 17/02/2021 13:57

I wish I had asked this question when I was 21. But if you are older than 40, what advice would you give to your 40 year old self?

I feel much wiser than I was at 21, but I also feel that my field of opportunity has narrowed, particularly career wise. I want to make the right choices now.

OP posts:
TableNiner · 18/02/2021 08:17

@YukoandHiro Just that there are a lot of issues you can end up with In your forties and fifties, which may seem like they are separate, eg bladder issues, itchy skin, low sex drive, depression. muscle weakness, but may be menopause related. There’s a lot of misinformation out there, eg HRT will give you breast cancer, osteoporosis is inevitable. It’s not directly career related but some women end up with less motivation and a range of issues which stop them living their best life. (And some don’t of course)

DorisDances · 18/02/2021 10:08

Look after your feet and take up pilates

poptartsarefood · 18/02/2021 12:04

40s have been the best.

Do stuff because it makes you happier (or wealthier).

You don't need to impress any more, no one is watching
You are who you are and that's good enough.

The ideal human you had in your doesn't exist, like yourself.

Ditch or change things that make you unhappy.

You don't have to engage with every little thing, let some things go.

ticketstub · 18/02/2021 12:28

Take vitamins, I bought a range of then such as cod liver oil and Vitamin D at very reasonable prices from HomeBargains/b&m and seem to feel better.

speakout · 18/02/2021 15:36

I thought my 40s were the best, until I got to my 50s, THis is the best decade yet!

VinylDetective · 18/02/2021 15:40

@SpeckledyHen

I would tell myself to really go mad and enjoy myself , because overnight you become 65 and a pandemic 😷 will knacker your retirement plans to travel the world carefree.
Absolutely. All the time in the world and enough money and the bloody world closes down.
MatildaTheCat · 18/02/2021 15:42

Pay AVCs into your pension if you can possibly afford it.

Learn new things, it doesn’t matter if you aren’t much good. Some you’ll love and keep up, some you’ll ditch. Since 40 I’ve taken up Pilates, skiing, ceramics, piano, art history, a dog and lots more.

I’ve also gained a disability and made new friends. Keep your mind open to opportunity and options you might usually dismiss.

Lose friends you don’t actually like much. 😊

HamnetandJudith · 18/02/2021 17:49

I am looking at moving into the civil service - but I don’t want to take a pay cut. The easier thing would be to stay with the status quo, but I know I would look back with regret at some point.

Thank you - loads of brilliant ideas here! I definitely think youth is wasted on the young, as Oscar Wilde said - so I want to make the most of middle age.

OP posts:
Starface · 18/02/2021 21:22

Have you included all the benefits, including pension, in your price comparisons? Worth considering, the pension is excellent - worth virtually 20% on top of headline salary. And the work life balance is generally excellent too.

DinosaurDiana · 18/02/2021 21:31

Get to your ideal weight and stay there.
Then find some exercise that you like and keep doing it.

HamnetandJudith · 18/02/2021 21:53

Yep pension is definitely worth considering. I have a poor work life balance in teaching, so that would be a plus if I moved. We have a great life that I don’t want to mess up, but I’m ready for a change.

OP posts:
MaLarkinn · 18/02/2021 22:23

Have more sex.

MasterBeth · 18/02/2021 22:46

@whatsnewpussycat777

Look up alpha, and go on one.
Read some science books.
Paleninteresting · 18/02/2021 22:58

@TableNiner I fully agree. I’m 1972 born and was unprepared for the peri menopause.
Please do get educated from now and prepare to be as physically fit and healthy as you can be for when it comes. There are great resources, particularly Menopause Matters (formal scientific) and Facebook Totes Merry Peri (informal but fun).

It snuck up on me and lots of time and NHS resources were wasted before a wise woman said ‘have you thought it might be the peri menopause?’

I and many professionals had not a clue.

HamnetandJudith · 18/02/2021 23:05

I am a confirmed atheist so definitely won’t be going on an alpha course.

Will start reading about the menopause.

OP posts:
Labobo · 18/02/2021 23:09

I would say: look after yourself. Financially, mentally, physically and emotionally. It doesn't harm children to have a mother who takes care of herself. (I was neurotically obsessed by putting DC first and the expense of my own health and wellbeing. I look back and think, how stupid and pointless.)

So: sort out your finances, savings, pension, mortgage etc. Ask for a raise, switch employers/roles to get on a higher income regularly until you hit the top of your salary scale. Or if self-employed, raise your rates until the amount you earn means you never feel overworked and under-appreciated.

Get fit and stay fit. Make sure you do challenging exercise 3-4 times a week minimum.

Speak out. If you are unhappy with how you are treated by family, partner or colleagues address it. It doesn't need to be a drama, but don't let things turn bitter.

There are loads of things I got right in my 40s though: do work you love and find a way to get well paid for it. Enjoy time with your DC - really have fun as a family. Go on outings, play with them, read to them, get muddy with them, teach them to cook and swim and build dens. It's such fun if you throw yourself into it. And make a bucket list then do something from it at least once a month. It's a recipe for happiness.

Rainboom · 18/02/2021 23:13

Following with interest as an almost 40 yo with 2 primary school kids. Knackered with work. Tell us more about career advice and perimenopause? I have some opportunities to move firms (a bigger role in a smaller place or slightly different area in a bigger place etc) but I'm not sure what I want out of my job.

Labobo · 18/02/2021 23:14

I forgot - another life changing one is Get Help. Maybe you do already, but I am someone who always assumes I have to do everything myself and that help isn't available. Then I noticed successful people ask for help all the time. Anything from having other people clean, iron and garden for them so they have more time to work and play, to tackling emotional hiccups or crises with a counsellor or therapist, to paying for work mentors, personal trainers etc. Last year my resolution was to get help. Bit scuppered by lockdown, but I had a few tradesmen come in to do DIY jobs I'd intended to do myself for a decade, I got some work mentoring and a trainer. It has been life-changing.

GingerLemonTea · 18/02/2021 23:17

.

Labobo · 18/02/2021 23:20

@Rainboom - perimenopause is exhausting. It flattens you and it is so not talked about. I'd not even heard the term until I was almost through it.

Take supplements - especially iron, B-complex vits and special peri multivitamins. Be careful you are not palmed off with antidepressants when you are actually just going through a natural phase. Eat soya - edamame beans, tofu etc as they contain oestrogen.

It's easy due to tiredness and sudden inexplicable anxiety (hormone-linked) to let your world shrink. Avoid this by doing new things, fun things, making new friends, staying super-fit, taking on reachable challenges.

Ditch energy sapping people and responsibilities as your energy does dip and needs to be harnessed for what you want. Look forward to the post-meno personality shift when you feel full of life, happiness and suddenly no longer give a toss what anyone thinks of you. It's bliss.

chillidoritto · 18/02/2021 23:29

Ditch any negativity. Getting a bit older is a privalege denied to many and should be embraced, not dreaded.

justanotherremainer · 19/02/2021 00:16

What a lovely thread 💖

43 here; happily so. Thinking back to my 40 th when I was still exiting a terrible and abusive marriage. I knew it was dark but getting lighter.

Now I’m 43 and lots of things are looking more positive. Not least the fact I will soon be divorced! I don’t feel old in the slightest.

Really appreciating the advice from women older than 40s.

31RooCambon · 19/02/2021 07:20

I think i felt frightened at 40 of "losing my looks" so now at 50 i would like to tell my 40 year old self that one does accept ageing! I feel like a ver young older person now which is a good feeling. I would tell myself that my focus shifted from wanting to look attractive to wanting to radiate health and contentment. Id tell my 40 year old self to stand up to her mother now while she is a robust 65 year old and not wait til she is 75 and able to use her age to manipulate me in to backing down.

31RooCambon · 19/02/2021 07:21

Good thread btw. These threads are always aimed at younger people but ime there is still space to make better decisions for yourself at 40 !

Juliancoped · 19/02/2021 07:24

40 former was the turning point and I achieved so much that decade. Got a degree, changed jobs, quit smoking and drinking and generally grew up. So wouldn't say anything to myself now Halo