Hi Hannah! I’m way out of your target demographic, but 20 years ago this was me right after getting my MBA from INSEAD and feeling pretty miserable as a management consultant. But I will tell you this — at 50 most of us are still going through the same thing. Getting laid off by ageist Corporate America, having to cover a big mortgage with another 10-20 years of raising kids ahead of us. A steady income these days is a blessing and often more important than excitement at work. If I could go back to 30, I would have picked a path that ages well, where experience is valued as knowledge and wisdom and not a sign of being outdated or expired. Personally I would have become a doctor, but other paths that value age include professor, therapist, politician… okay I guess not that many, I wish there were more. Anyway my point is similar to your first one — this is a problem as old as humans, but it’s also a problem that doesn’t get “solved”. And AI is only making the future of careers more uncertain. These days my thought is this: choose a path that requires you to be a physically present human. I might start over at 50 as a nurse.
This is awesome. One of the things I struggle the most with is finding the motivation to inspire all of the young women coming out of school and looking for advice. I’m starting this account for exactly that
Caroline, this resonates so much! The journey really is the same regardless of when you did your MBA. One thing I'd add, I went into my MBA with significantly more experience than most of my classmates, which shaped my expectations entirely differently. I however fell for the noise of corporate, when I was already past that phase and looking for something deeper, impact, building, sustainability. That gap between what the MBA promises and what it actually delivers on entrepreneurship is real, and I felt it sharply. Like you, I wish I'd spent more time building for myself than playing the traditional MBA game. Your point about choosing paths that age well really hit home, experience should be a currency, not a liability.
Wow what a great response! This really has me thinking. I’ve been thinking a lot about how to “future-proof” my career because of ageism in the work place. I’m no where near 50 but I’m anxious for sure. Now I’m thinking that for age 50 and beyond, having my own business might just be the way. What business? I don’t actually know. Just a thought about what would make sense for my future.
The line I keep coming back to is “stop trying to manufacture an interest that isn’t there.” Most advice in this genre can’t bear to say that—it has to promise a hidden passion if you just journal hard enough. There’s a quieter version I’ve lived, where the not-knowing wasn’t a fog to clear so much as a room I had to actually live in for a while before anything honest showed up. The side quests didn’t hand me the answer; they just gave me enough quiet to stop auditioning for the old one. Enjoy the two weeks fully offline—that’s its own kind of side quest. 🫶🏻
Hi Hannah, thank you I needed to read this today, it’s honest and describes exactly how I’m currently feeling. Love the tarot too! It was really insightful
The fog you're describing is its own kind of honesty. Not the brain overworked and needing recovery, but the specific numbness that comes after years of chasing targets that were never actually yours. You say "stop trying to manufacture interest" but the thing you're circling is harder: you've spent so long borrowing other people's definitions of what excites you that you've forgotten what it looks like when something speaks to you first, before the ambition calculates its worth. How do you rebuild a voice when the system that trained you to be excellent at shutting it down was actually, in every measurable way, working?
Yes!! I quit my management consulting job nearly 10 years ago, and moved to East Africa to build agriculture businesses that serve farmers who make less than 2 dollars a day. I love your point about just doing something, anything! We can only get more data points with more action. PS I am obsessed with a good side quest.
Thanks for sharing this Hannah. Needed to read this today :) it's literally how I am feeling right now. I like the idea of not obsessing over the problem and trying to find a sudden fix immediately
This is a great piece! I liked the points about not overly focussing on the problem, getting out into nature, talking to people and just experimenting with stuff. I think experimentation is how the needle moves anyway, especially when we feel lost or stuck - it's what I'm trying, anyway!
Love your posts Hannah. I quit my job and while in phase #2 of resting it actually gave me the room to think and create, and ultimately inspired me to write on substack and create a wellness app to help regulate the nervous system - https://sakoon.ai
I wrote an article on my page called “access is not the problem, focus is.” It’s about how our “potential” is dangerous as ambitious people and talks about some things to do when you’re confused about what to work on! May be useful to some people here
I consistently get stuck in my head and find motion to be the best way out of it. A very tactical reset I found effective was “The 12 hr walk.” It hits most of these points and is a simple decision to just set aside a day of your life.
1. Walk for 12 hrs, take as many breaks as you want
2. Start and end at your house so it’s contextualized to your daily life and not compartmentalized to an exotic trek
3. Do it by alone and actively mitigate extended human interactions
4. Airplane mode/ no music
The guy that made it has a book and whole thing - I found it useful!
Um WOW this read was so validating for where I’m at rn !! This provided a really helpful and healthy way to think about things, and reassured that the path I’m following for myself rn is the right one. Thank you!!
This was such a great read Hannah! I left the corporate world in February and this is exactly what I did. To anyone reading, take time out, you can't think straight when you've been stuck in flight or fight mode for so long!
Hi Hannah! I’m way out of your target demographic, but 20 years ago this was me right after getting my MBA from INSEAD and feeling pretty miserable as a management consultant. But I will tell you this — at 50 most of us are still going through the same thing. Getting laid off by ageist Corporate America, having to cover a big mortgage with another 10-20 years of raising kids ahead of us. A steady income these days is a blessing and often more important than excitement at work. If I could go back to 30, I would have picked a path that ages well, where experience is valued as knowledge and wisdom and not a sign of being outdated or expired. Personally I would have become a doctor, but other paths that value age include professor, therapist, politician… okay I guess not that many, I wish there were more. Anyway my point is similar to your first one — this is a problem as old as humans, but it’s also a problem that doesn’t get “solved”. And AI is only making the future of careers more uncertain. These days my thought is this: choose a path that requires you to be a physically present human. I might start over at 50 as a nurse.
Thank you for sharing your retrospective!
This is awesome. One of the things I struggle the most with is finding the motivation to inspire all of the young women coming out of school and looking for advice. I’m starting this account for exactly that
Caroline, this resonates so much! The journey really is the same regardless of when you did your MBA. One thing I'd add, I went into my MBA with significantly more experience than most of my classmates, which shaped my expectations entirely differently. I however fell for the noise of corporate, when I was already past that phase and looking for something deeper, impact, building, sustainability. That gap between what the MBA promises and what it actually delivers on entrepreneurship is real, and I felt it sharply. Like you, I wish I'd spent more time building for myself than playing the traditional MBA game. Your point about choosing paths that age well really hit home, experience should be a currency, not a liability.
Wow what a great response! This really has me thinking. I’ve been thinking a lot about how to “future-proof” my career because of ageism in the work place. I’m no where near 50 but I’m anxious for sure. Now I’m thinking that for age 50 and beyond, having my own business might just be the way. What business? I don’t actually know. Just a thought about what would make sense for my future.
The line I keep coming back to is “stop trying to manufacture an interest that isn’t there.” Most advice in this genre can’t bear to say that—it has to promise a hidden passion if you just journal hard enough. There’s a quieter version I’ve lived, where the not-knowing wasn’t a fog to clear so much as a room I had to actually live in for a while before anything honest showed up. The side quests didn’t hand me the answer; they just gave me enough quiet to stop auditioning for the old one. Enjoy the two weeks fully offline—that’s its own kind of side quest. 🫶🏻
Ok I love this comment bc I’ve never been able to journal consistently in my life and think “just go journal” is the worst advice in the world
Hi Hannah, thank you I needed to read this today, it’s honest and describes exactly how I’m currently feeling. Love the tarot too! It was really insightful
The fog you're describing is its own kind of honesty. Not the brain overworked and needing recovery, but the specific numbness that comes after years of chasing targets that were never actually yours. You say "stop trying to manufacture interest" but the thing you're circling is harder: you've spent so long borrowing other people's definitions of what excites you that you've forgotten what it looks like when something speaks to you first, before the ambition calculates its worth. How do you rebuild a voice when the system that trained you to be excellent at shutting it down was actually, in every measurable way, working?
So true! It’s like the key to incubation effect is slowing down when all you want to do is push harder to solve the problem
This is so helpful, thank you 🫶🏼
Yes!! I quit my management consulting job nearly 10 years ago, and moved to East Africa to build agriculture businesses that serve farmers who make less than 2 dollars a day. I love your point about just doing something, anything! We can only get more data points with more action. PS I am obsessed with a good side quest.
That’s so cool!
Thanks for sharing this Hannah. Needed to read this today :) it's literally how I am feeling right now. I like the idea of not obsessing over the problem and trying to find a sudden fix immediately
This is a great piece! I liked the points about not overly focussing on the problem, getting out into nature, talking to people and just experimenting with stuff. I think experimentation is how the needle moves anyway, especially when we feel lost or stuck - it's what I'm trying, anyway!
Love your posts Hannah. I quit my job and while in phase #2 of resting it actually gave me the room to think and create, and ultimately inspired me to write on substack and create a wellness app to help regulate the nervous system - https://sakoon.ai
Hannah, I've noticed ambition doesn't go away. It just changes direction. What motivated me at 35 is very different from what motivates me at 55.
I wrote an article on my page called “access is not the problem, focus is.” It’s about how our “potential” is dangerous as ambitious people and talks about some things to do when you’re confused about what to work on! May be useful to some people here
I consistently get stuck in my head and find motion to be the best way out of it. A very tactical reset I found effective was “The 12 hr walk.” It hits most of these points and is a simple decision to just set aside a day of your life.
1. Walk for 12 hrs, take as many breaks as you want
2. Start and end at your house so it’s contextualized to your daily life and not compartmentalized to an exotic trek
3. Do it by alone and actively mitigate extended human interactions
4. Airplane mode/ no music
The guy that made it has a book and whole thing - I found it useful!
https://12hourwalk.com
You nailed this write-up. It's obvious that you've walked the path before.
Thank you! Yes very much so lol
Um WOW this read was so validating for where I’m at rn !! This provided a really helpful and healthy way to think about things, and reassured that the path I’m following for myself rn is the right one. Thank you!!
Happy to hear!
This was so great. I enjoy writing where I get the feeling the person talks like this too.
Yes I pretty much spoke this to wispr flow lol
This was such a great read Hannah! I left the corporate world in February and this is exactly what I did. To anyone reading, take time out, you can't think straight when you've been stuck in flight or fight mode for so long!
I’m so glad!! Rooting for you