If you lost your mojo at work in your 40s did it ever come back?

[slet]

I’ve posted this in menopause as I think I might be perimenopausal but not exactly sure, I’m 42.

i have always been driven and moved my work. I’ve worked hard to get to a senior position and I’ve been in my current role for 6 years.

I had a significant bereavement last year which rocked me and made my health go haywire. I’m married and i have got teenage kids and am also worried about my elderly dm.

I was driving to work at the crack of dawn this morning and just realised how totally “meh” I feel about it. I still love the core part of my job, but all of the other stuff I do I just really can’t find it in myself to care about anymore. lt all seems a bit pointless. It takes me ages to drum up enthusiasm for certain tasks, I’m bad at procrastinating and feel this weird sort of combination of apathy but also anxiety that I will get found out.

i feel like I’m too scared of change to look for something else, but at the same time I think maybe it’s a bit of boredom as I have been doing the role for a while now.

is this just how it’s going to be from
now on or is it possible that I will somehow discover a new zest and enthusiasm for it?

Anyone?

Sorry no haven’t got it back just seeing how much bullsh*t I can keep taking until I can retire in 5-7yrs time (I’m mid 50s). I’ve been asked a few times if I’m going for promotion but honestly the stress v money is just not worth it for me. Instead I prioritise personal health & fitness & life outside work.

Mine went about the same age and I felt very similar . I'm 46 now - I thought it was the job and I retrained in something completely different alongside working. Turned out it wasn't the job, it was me so that was a waste of time and effort, and I have stuck in my secure, permanent, well paid role that I can just about tolerate. I have also been asked about promotion and the thought makes me shudder. So I'm just out here, saving/putting as much as I can away in pension and fantasising about being made redundant.

I did!

I felt really stuck at work for a couple of years mid-40s, in a professional role but working remotely, looking after children, feeling socially isolated and just drifting along in my perimenopausal fug. I couldn’t bear the thought of trundling along until retirement but couldn’t summon the energy to do anything about it.

But something just clicked one day, I polished up my CV, chatted to a couple of recruitment consultants, and realised during interviews that I really DID want a change.

Honestly the confidence a new job gave me was immense, I felt valued again, visible again and my mojo is very much back.

I got my mojo back by switching jobs at 47. Same organisation but totally different role, new colleagues, different team culture. It was a big challenge at first but now I love it, and feel thrilled I didn't just settle for staying out in my old job.

I have been enjoying and feeling more motivated at work in my mid to late 40s than ever before. My only worry is that I have left it a bit late to reach my true potential. I struggled to get my career going in my 20s, then got going in my 30s before a few set backs.

Started my current job in my late 30s and quite liked it in the beginning but didn't really hit my stride until my 40s and then a couple of promotions bolstered my confidence and made my role more challenging. I bloody love it now, even though it is incredibly hard work.

Me. I’ve just been made redundant and god it feels so freeing.

I can no longer summon the strength to deliver shareholder value, execute strategic leadership across the matrix organisation or deliver top down bottom up goals or whatever twaddle HR were saying today while telling people they weren’t getting a pay rise or bonus.

I’ve got a really good career, worked bloody hard at times etc but I’m really looking forward to taking the pressure off while I find something new or different.

Did it ever come back? No.😂

Like the old saying, nobody has 'I wish I'd spent more time in the office' on their headstone, do they?

This is me today
I’m not even sure if I want it back
Maybe time for a break, or a change
But then I get scared and round the circle goes…

I feel you!

I left a corporate role in my mid 40s. 2 bereavements knocked the stuffing out of me and I just stopped caring about work after years of being ambitious and driven. It all seemed so pointless. I had some time out then went back into something totally different and part time. I'll never be career minded again but I do get a certain level of satisfaction from my job now.

I left corporate during the pandemic, in the midst of some serious anemia caused by peri which made me have heavy periods for 15 days in a row. Due to COVID taxing our healthcare, I didn't get in to see anyone for months. I was almost near a heart attack from low iron.

So, I lost my drive likely due to the anemia, but once my health came back, I completely switched careers and now work for myself. It's been liberating. I never made my salary back, but my female colleagues all hit glass ceilings there anyways, as I assume I would have as well.

Don't miss the old role. The further I'm away from it, the more grateful I am that I quit. Can't believe I gave so much of myself to a soulless company!