Your Best Work is Still Ahead of You

Chip Conley

(If you want it to be.) 

What would you do if you knew that your most fulfilling work years were still ahead of you? 

After all, Charles Darwin didn’t publish his theory of evolution until he was 50 years old. Picasso didn’t paint his most famous work, Guernica, until he was 55. Harlan Sanders didn’t launch Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) as a franchise until he was 62. And Little House on the Prairie author Laura Ingalls Wilder didn’t publish her first book until she was 64!

If you allowed yourself to believe that your most fulfilling work was in your future – regardless of what your current job is or even if you’re currently retired – what would you be inspired to accomplish? 

Would you start your own business? Write books or pursue a career in art? Become a mentor or advisor to young people or business owners striving to make a difference? 

Whatever your vision, you have the power to make it a reality and continue doing work you love for decades to come!  

Here are five questions designed to help you explore this idea further and envision what your next fulfilling chapter of work might look like – no matter what your current work situation looks like or how old you happen to be. 

  1. Who do you want to be when you grow up? 
  2. What work/career path will help you become that person? 
  3. What do you feel deeply passionate about? 
  4. How can you serve people beyond yourself?
  5. What is your heart calling you to do? 

Whether you are looking for greater joy and purpose in your current work situation, contemplating a fresh start, or looking for greater purpose in your post-retirement life, digging into these five questions can help illuminate your path toward work that inspires and fulfills you.

About the Author

Chip Conley

Founder

A three-time TED speaker on the big stage, Chip Conley is one of the world’s leading experts at the intersection of business innovation, psychology and spirituality.

As one of the creators of the boutique hotel movement and the “modern elder” to the young Airbnb founders, Chip’s been a disruptor and expert on entrepreneurship and business leadership. He’s a globally-recognized thought leader on the future of work and the competitive advantages of a multi-generational workplace.

Inspired by his experience of intergenerational mentoring as a “modern elder” at Airbnb, where his guidance was instrumental to the company’s extraordinary success, Chip founded MEA and has since dedicated his midlife years to reframing the concept of aging and supporting people in navigating midlife with a renewed sense of purpose and possibility.

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