A 28-year-old woman asked me if she may have a midlife crisis.
Or if she has to wait till 40 to be coached on it.
What she was going through was a quarter-life crisis; it is less known but similar to a midlife crisis in many aspects.
Because an existential crisis is not age-related, it happens when you are transitioning between different stages of life.
In her case, it was leaving adolescence and entering young adulthood.
But the questions causing her anxiety were the same as for mid-lifers:
- How will I handle life in the years to come? I don’t know what to expect!
- How can I give up on the current lifestyle? There is nothing better possible!
- Have my career choices been reasonable? I may get stuck!
- How can I measure up to my friends? They are all so successful!
In our work together we started by getting her to acknowledge 1 thing:
whatever she is going through is normal.
Then, we concentrated on strengthening her mindset by
- developing self-awareness,
- raising confidence,
- identifying limiting beliefs.
It gave her the strength to accept some level of uncertainty and to analyze choices with a steady mind.
This approach is one of the many similarities between midlife and quarter-life crises.
Remember:
An existential crisis is not age-related.
It can happen at any time.
And you can overcome it at any moment. PS If you are a mid-lifer, what have you learned from your transition to adulthood years ago?