What is the worst age? 

Did you guess 29 or 39?  Wrong.  According to USA Today,

Researchers from Great Britain and the USA analyzed data spanning more than 35 years on measures such as depression, anxiety, mental well-being, happiness and life satisfaction.

For both sexes, the probability of depression peaks around age 44.

“My best conjecture is that people eventually learn to quell their infeasible aspirations,” he says. “They manage to get their expectations into line with what they can actually achieve.”

At 30, you poke your head up and evaluate where you are in life.  If you find yourself doing what you hate and hating your life, you still have time to make some changes.  In your 40s, however, your life plan is pretty much set and, worst of all, it’s probably your fault.

You can see every little “what if?” along the way and second guess your 22 year-old self.

Regret is pernicious and, when the kids leave the nest, you suddenly have a lot of extra time to think about what you haven’t accomplished.  Though you statistically have another 40 years to live, lots of people feel that it is too late to live the life they dreamed, to follow their calling, and to live in excellence.

Change your life mid-game!

1.  Move.  Even if you are doing the same job in a new town, do it.  New people, new landmarks, and new stuff to do give you new opportunities to reinvent yourself.

2.  Change your job.  If you can’t immediately change what you do, you can still change where you work.  And if you want to do something completely different, segue by volunteering or freelancing on the side.  Pick-up a second job in a completely different sector.

3.  Change your look.  Get a new look and even a new car but don’t be a cliche!  You are blasting yourself out of a rut and putting the live back in living.

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4.  Get a hobby.  Start having more fun and you’ll start being more fun.  Did you ever want to learn to shred a guitar?  Stop waiting!  Has your love of fantasy novels inspired an interest in archery?  Do it!

5.  Get rid of the tv.  When you look around to discover that 20 years flew by without your notice, it’s the tv that stole it. 

If you only watch 3 hours of tv a night, only on weeknights, for 20 years, you’ll have spent 15,600 hours watching tv.

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6.  Don’t get rid of your spouse.  Rediscover your spouse.  What is he or she interested in?  Start dating again!  You might be surprised by what you discover.

7.  Find your calling.  You probably know what it is already.  You may have spent 20 years talking yourself out of it.  “I could never…”  “There’s no way I’d…”

Just suck it up and go for it.  If you can’t do it full-time, do it in your spare time.  If you are going to fail, wouldn’t you rather go out with a bang than a whimper? 

There is nothing wrong with failure.  Regarding his 10,000 failed attempts to make a lightbulb, Edison said “I’ve not failed.  I’ve found 10,000 ways that don’t work.”

You’re running the penulitmate experiment…on your life.

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If you liked this article check out Making 2008 A Year of Change.