Midlife often gets framed as a crisis – decline, fading relevance, hot flushes, a desperate cling to youth. But here’s the truth: your 40s can be your most powerful decade yet.
This power emerges in early midlife – Not because everything magically falls into place or the challenges disappear. But because you’ve lived enough learned enough, survived enough, and accumulated enough hard-won wisdom to finally stand on solid ground.
But having power, and using power, are completely different things.
What Really Changes in Your 40s
Something shifts when you cross into this decade. The endless performing and proving starts to lose its grip. The noise of other people’s expectations grows quieter. You start hearing your own voice more clearly.
That’s when the power decade reveals itself:
- Instinct that cuts through the noise. You can spot what’s real and what’s performance in seconds. You’ve seen enough patterns to trust your gut.
- Perspective that steadies you. You’ve been through enough cycles to know that nothing – good or bad – lasts forever. This changes how you make decisions.
- Confidence earned through experience. Not bravado, or fake-it-til-you-make-it, but the quiet certainty that comes from having survived things you didn’t think you could.
- Reading your body’s signals – what restores and depletes you.
- The ability to curate your life. You’re done with obligations that drain you. You’re getting better at protecting your time and energy.
None of these arrive in a neat little package at 40. They reveal themselves gradually, often after seasons of burnout, change, loss or forced reinvention. But once you start noticing them, they change everything.
The Gap Between Knowing and Doing
Here’s what makes things complicated: having power and using power are two different things.
You might know, deep down, that you’re ready to stop people-pleasing…but still find yourself saying yes when you mean no.
You might recognise that your intuition is sharper than ever…but second-guess yourself anyway because old patterns die hard.
You might want to make bold choices with all this hard won perspective…but get stuck in the pull of responsibilities, logistics, and that voice that says “who do you think you are?”
That gap, between potential and practice, is where it’s easy to get stuck.
I learned this the uncomfortable way. After completely burning out in my mid-40s I knew what needed to change, but I kept defaulting to old patterns. The breakthrough came when I stopped trying to think my way into change and started building different foundations. Not the grand reinvention I’d been pressuring myself to achieve, just practices that helped me actually live from the power I’d spent decades earning.
I learned to ground, instead of spinning in my head for days. I audited my values so that I could make decisions from there instead of what I thought I ‘should’ do. I relinquished guilt around setting boundaries, and began working with my energy, not against it. Small shifts, but they began to close the gap.
Your Main Event
Early midlife isn’t a consolation prize for surviving youth. It’s not the beginning of decline. It’s the season when everything you’ve lived, learned, survived, and endured can finally come together into something solid and completely yours.
But only if you use it intentionally.
The verbena in my garden didn’t bloom boldly by accident. They rooted deeply first. They took up space without apology. They grew where conditions supported them.
You can do the same. You’ve earned the right.
Start Here
If you’re ready to close the gap between potential and practice, the Blooming Boldly Blueprint is your starting point – a free 7-day guide to help you clarify what matters and start building foundations that will carry you through whatever comes next.
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