A recent study showed that age has a significant part to play in our mental wellbeing. The study found that those aged 33 have reached a peak of drive and ambition and after this point will start to focus less on career growth. While before you may have thought a midlife crisis was just a cute name for being unhappy in your job, the latest evidence suggests there is more to it.
It appears from the study that 33 is the perfect age because we have the energy and strength of youth but the experience and confidence of a more mature age. Before this point, we still have a lot to learn and are a little immature. After this point, we are more focused on enjoying what we already have in life whether that is family or something else. Of course, there are outliers to every data point and some people are incredibly focused from a very young age while others find their ambition later in life. Yet the age of 33 came out as a strong result in the study.
The study also looked at what the key life goals are. People generally want to save money, eat better and get fit. The biggest obstacles stopping them are time, money and laziness.
Another study that looked at wellbeing across 132 countries found that 47 is a very meaningful age as well. 47 was found to be the unhappiest age across the world. This is likely because you are starting to examine if you have achieved any of your life goals already and may feel in a race against time. It takes a few more years before you start to see the beauty of life outside the goal-driven rat race you were previously focused on.
Goals are an important part of life as they can help us overcome the lazy attitude that we all have on certain occasions. By setting goals we can be more focused and driven on achieving certain things. Yet if we ever fail to achieve a goal it should not be a reason to get discouraged. Life is long and has plenty of twists and turns that we can’t predict. As long as you put in an honest effort and allow yourself to learn from any failed opportunity than you are doing well.
The two studies highlighted show that age appears as a material factor in people’s happiness. Age should never be looked at as a determining result of how well you are doing. Everyone is running their own race and while some will achieve everything they want in life by a young age, others will take a few more years. As long as you always focus on yourself and never on the success of others, it doesn’t matter what age you are.
