It comes out of nowhere and hits you hard. Usually you hear jokes about men buying red convertibles and chasing younger ladies, and women changing haircuts and in nowadays even buying pairs of new boobs and chasing younger guys. Unfortunately, it’s a bit more complicated.

When you approach the middle of your life, you are usually in the middle of your career as well. The lucky ones who started working after the age of 30 do not suffer from this same condition, but they have their own problems of bringing coffee to their much younger bosses.

Back to mid-career crisis.

Questions that pop-up usually are:

• Am I successful enough?
• Could I do better than this?
• Do I love what I’m doing? Do I at least like it?
• What is the purpose my job except earning money?
• Is it too late for a change?
• If yes, what I’m going to do? (screaming)
• If no, what should I do next? (screaming again!)

If you expect answers to those questions you can immediately click the X in the upper right corner of your screen. Or turn off your smartphone.

But what I’m willing to offer you is inspiration. And some ideas concerning what you can do if you decide during your mid-career crisis that you need a change.

1. Produce video content and monetize it via different online channels

Before you start thinking that you can’t do anything interesting that people would want to watch I will give you one example. A few months ago, I wanted to prepare a traditional Serbian dish and I googled the recipe. And I stumbled upon a YouTube channel of one Aleksandra from Bosnia, a lady with an interesting biography, with a master’s degree from Italy, who decided to create her own channel with traditional Bosnian recipes. She is doing it within a very basic setup and preparing mostly basic dishes from Bosnian countryside. She has over 20.000 subscribers and over 6 million views. I’m quite sure that she is moving closer and closer toward a positive financial outcome.  Check out her web site and YT channel.

2. Master your English and become an English teacher

It’s a big surprise for me but demand for English teachers is still quite high. And almost everywhere in the world, at that!  Except, of course in English speaking countries. If you invest some time into learning and get necessary certificates, you can give private lessons, teach in schools, travel the world and teach… Every week someone asks me if I know an English teacher. And I know at least 10 of them. But they are all too busy. So if you decide to follow this path of my inspiration advice let me know so that I can recommend you.

3. Become a digital nomad (I simply love this title!)

Learn secrets of digital marketing, content marketing, social networks or code writing… Take your lap-top and start traveling from place to place. Because, as long as you have Wi-Fi and you can find some clients, you can be this modern nomad. Working from home can push you toward depression. Especially if you once had a very dynamic office life. But, traveling around (it can be your country, not necessarily the world), meeting new people, always learning new skills and following trends of digital world – now that can be refreshing and inspiring.

If you still prefer to continue with your career path but also want to take up ultimate fighting, some extreme outdoor sports or closing all bars every night for a year – that’s also fine with me. Just remember – it’s a crisis, not a permanent condition.

Movie recommendation for this weekend is American Beauty (1999). Recommended drink is a can of Bud or Miller. If you can find it in the shop next to you.