How Do You Know? Making a Career Change at 40



Reese Witherspoon



In the movie How Do You Know, Lisa, played by Reese Witherspoon (pictured to the right) questions her romantic feelings for two completely different love interests; a baseball playing playboy (Owen Wilson) who sees in Lisa a reason to potentially slow his roll, and a truly smitten corporate executive (Paul Rudd) who has recently been indicted for fraud.

What Lisa was not questioning was her love for softball. Unfortunately, she was recently cut from her team due to her coaches’ belief that she was getting older and although Lisa (Reese) was still very talented and could still contribute, she was in her late 30’s and her coach wanted to start building a younger squad. Does this trend sound familiar? Are companies seeking to replace seasoned employees with younger, perhaps more cost effective employees? 

In reference to Lisa, this movie highlighted two important aspects that you should consider if you are in the midst of a career transition: 1) a key to identifying  one's career niche, essentially ‘How Do You Know’  your career niche; and 2)most career changes occur when we approach the ages of 40 to 50.

Let’s start with the latter, making a career change at 40 to 50. Although in the movie Lisa focused most of her attention on romance after she was cut, but she also found some time to support her team. Of course this was the movie's plot, but as I mentioned earlier, Lisa although slightly older than what’s considered prime for playing softball, simply needed to channel her passion for the sport to a purpose that could be used to fulfill her and service others.

When considering the possibilities of making a career change at 40 specifically for athletes perhaps coaching may be one of the most common choices; however, other former athletes have found success in color commentating, scouting, training, consulting, entrepreneurial ventures, and as agents. The key for anyone seeking career change help is to devote your time and energy to a career that will provide you with joy, energy, excitement, and most importantly a sense of purpose.


Now to address the first question, what is a key to identifying one's career niche, essentially ‘How Do You Know’ your career niche? If you can recall the details of an early childhood memory, then you are on the right track. Usually any childhood memory that holds pleasurable details can be associated with a future career. For example, fashion designers have recalled constructing clothing from odds and ends for their Barbies, bakers have made dozens of mud pies in their back yards, and even I recall playing teacher with my sister who would have guessed that some years later I would end up teaching college.

The point is your childhood memories can hold some truth to your career. Just as Lisa (Reese) illustrated at the beginning of the movie when she was just a young girl and slammed the ball out of the park, you too can use your childhood memories to unlock the future to your career.  So how can you be able to answer the question how do you know? Because there will be no doubt in your mind that what you are doing is not only fulfilling but also serving a higher purpose.