Career

Architect Frank Lloyd Wright completed one-third of his most famous work between the ages of 80 and 92. Business author Peter Drucker wrote two-thirds of his forty books after the age of 65. Morris Chang started the influential Taiwanese chip company, TSMC, at 55 and ran it for thirty-five years.

I've never been to Davos for the World Economic Forum, and frankly, I have no desire to go. Despite being filled with well-meaning leaders who sound smart and altruistic, it often seems divorced from mainstream reality. Take, for instance, the Forum's Reskilling Revolution Initiative from four years ago, which aims to empower a billion people by 2030 with new skills and opportunities. It's all well and good, but teaching midlifers to become computer programmers looks awfully foolish in the era of AI.

I’m reading more books than ever. I have a long list in the not-yet-purchased queue, and a good 8+ that I’ve started but not finished. I wander between books rather than hunkering down with one at a time. It’s a bit of my wiring, I suspect. My style has always been to maintain a plethora of options, to ride each wave to the next wave to yet another wave, rather than riding one crest all the way to the comfort of shore.

Age 50 may not just be midlife; it also might be mid-career. In a world with a President in his 80s, you might have as many years of work ahead of you—at 50—as you do behind you. Here are 10 tips to navigate the world of work in the last half of your career: