Who said the 60 is too late to find your life purpose?

Until a few years ago I believed in good faith and with deep conviction that the concepts of "reinventing yourself" and "finding your personal destiny" or "life purpose" were invented by lifestyle gurus as something that "sounds good" and are just "mice to have". I knew what "invent" means, but can a person invent himself, and so on? At age 60 can a person really finally find his personal destiny? Her life purpose? So it turns out that it is possible, and even at an advanced age.

Life expectancy is rising today, but at the same time Israel is still a country of young people: according to CBS data, only about 10% of the total population in Israel are aged 65 and over, and the labor market does reflect this; being forty-plus and looking for this job is not an easy task .I recently met at a woman in a bookstore. She was in her sixties, standing in a corner and leafing through a book about a career change. I happened to be standing next to her as she laid the book down, and I heard her sigh deeply: "It's a little too late for me."

It is true that as we get older it is harder to make significant career changes. Yet such a change is not only possible, but sometimes even obligatory. Why? If you want to stay in the workforce for example, often there is no choice but to reinvent yourself, find the desired vocation. And in the current era, when the job market is constantly changing (professions are disappearing, as opposed to the emergence of new professions that did not exist in the past and are born out of thin air every day), it is important to consider making changes and adding skills to your personal skills stack.

Years ago it was the company who would send you to improve those skills, today it is the responsibility of each one of us, should we want to remain competitive and desirable for the possible next employer. The same applies if we wish to become an entrepreneur, or a freelancer. Perhaps then even more.

Many will testify about themselves that they got into their professional pursuits out of the "inertia of life." More than once I have heard people say (and I am among them) that most of their professional lives are the result of coincidence that follows other coincidences, and not of deliberate planning or choice. And I'm not complaining at all about what ultimately fell in my lap. So how can a person find her personal destiny and reinvent herself? Dori Clark, a lecturer at Duke University in the state of North Carolina in the USA, points out five key points in such a process:

- Understand that there is still enough time - even at an older age it is certainly possible to make substantial changes, but it is advisable to make them slowly and not drastically: it is not recommended, for example, to take a break from your career in favor of five years of doctoral studies.

- Of course your skills are above and beyond - so why not enjoy it? While applying for a job you may have "over-qualified" skills, make the most of the rich experience you bring to the table and direct it to the benefit of the organization. Emphasize that ranking differences (being managed by someone younger than you) will not be an obstacle for you along the way.

- Updating and using social media. Nowadays, being there means being existent, and it will be the first place that potential employers will look for you if and when they want to check your candidacy for every possible position. It is well worth it and worth learning and keeping up to date.

- Connect back to past ties. Reconnecting with acquaintances you have not met for a long time can bear fruit: during the breakup they met and worked with many other people, and reconnecting between two people who worked together and valued each other is easier than connecting with new people.

- Surprise! Your current colleagues think they know you, who you are and what you like. Volunteer for an unconventional task, lead an innovative process, or learn something groundbreaking, and thus prove that you have the ability to innovate.

Finding you life purpose is a process that requires a little bit of effort, willingness and belief in your self-worth, and sometimes a slight parting from your ego. Yet it is certainly a possible process, and can even be enjoyable. One of the key elements in the process of finding it is connecting to your passions, abilities and strengths. In a coaching process, it can be done quite quickly. In one or two sessions at most you can reach that surprising "statement of life purpose" (My own life purpose surprised me very much, when I got to it, even though for years it was turning around in my gut, unconsciously). It is a knowing, this time conscious, clear, articulated in positive terms, drawn from personal success stories from the past, expressing "what we were meant to do on earth in our lifetime." Not mystical, not New Age, very practical. And it's yours, not the coach's.

The continuation of the careere re-ingeneering coaching process will include "aligning" with the vocation, and directing the reinvention efforts according to your desires, passions and your accumulated life experience. Thence to vision, goals, and forward to action plan, until realization. As someone who went through such a process himself a few years ago I am happy to say that it is much simpler than we think. With a little planning, a constant addition and improving of professional skills, and the courage to graze even in new fields, it is certainly possible to bring the sixties to a significant renewal in our careers, among other things.