Summary

Life crises are challenging but manageable through personal development and resilience training.

Abstract

The article discusses the inevitability of life crises at various stages, from the quarter-life crisis to the retirement crisis, and their impact on personal identity. It emphasizes that while these crises are common, not everyone experiences them with the same intensity. The piece suggests that individuals with a strong personal identity and low negative stress are less likely to be severely affected. It also posits that life crises offer opportunities for self-reflection and realignment with one's true self. The article advocates for the proactive development of psychological mastery and resilience, which can be enhanced through personal development and training in emotional, cognitive, physical, and spiritual areas, leading to improved overall life quality and a better ability to handle life's challenges.

Opinions

Life crises are seen as a psychological response to major life changes or events, which can be both unavoidable and unexpected.
The article implies that personal identity plays a crucial role in how individuals cope with life crises.
Stress levels, particularly during transitions between life phases, are indicated as a contributing factor to the severity of life crises.
The author suggests that life crises can be beneficial, serving as a catalyst for personal growth and reflection.
Resilience is presented as a skill that can be developed over time, allowing individuals to adapt better to stress and recover more quickly from trauma.
The article encourages readers to engage in personal development and resilience training to mitigate the effects of life crises and improve their quality of life.

The Good Thing about Your Life Crisis

Life crises are often unavoidable, especially at a young age, but making the best of them is in your hands.

Yes, life crises suck. No one sees it differently — at first (!)

You may have noticed that people deal with such life changes or events differently: some break down, others take a while to recover, and still others seem not to be affected by them at all.

But why is that?

The Life Crisis

Life crisis is “an umbrella term describing a person’s psychological response to major life changes or events” like a separation, the death of a loved one, losing your job, or ‘just’ failing a (final) exam.

In addition to these individual life crises, three to four ‘natural’ existential crises can occur:

quarter-life crisis: during our mid-20s to early 30s, when you struggle to build your personal identity after graduating from college or leaving their family homes.
midlife crisis: in our 40s and 50s (~10–20% are affected in the US), when you reflect your life (e.g., when the children move away from home) and struggle again with your identity and confidence.
retirement crisis (or the three-quarter life crisis or the later-life crisis): in our mid 60s and 70s, when you retire and again struggle with your identity, as the job is no longer an important and big part of your life.
(end-of-life crisis): shortly before death, when you regret the life you have lived.

These life crises can occur at different ages (as you can see above) and unexpectedly without warning, which make them hard to handle.

However, not everyone goes through all crises.

Interesting facts: 75% of 25–33 year olds have experienced a quarter-life crisis, according to LinkedIn research. While only 10–20% of adults claimed to have experience a midlife crisis, studies show.

The question now is why some people are not affected, and what they do differently in their lives.

What are the reasons, and what to do about them

The natural life crises always occur at the transition between two phases of life in which personal identity is challenged.

Harvard research shows that a sharp increase in stress levels can also be responsible for the first natural crises.

Vice versa, people who have a strong personal identity and little negative stress are less susceptible to these natural life crises

…but what about unexpected life crises triggered by certain events?

You usually can’t avoid them, but that’s not a bad thing in itself. All those are a great opportunity to reflect on the choices you’ve made in your life and see if those choices align with the person you are today.

The only difficulty is that you have to actively think and work on it in the relevant situation, which, of course, is easier said than done.

Don’t worry. You can train that.

Train your resilience

Why are life crises perceived as less severe with increasing age than at a younger age?

We simply learn to develop psychological mastery and to regulate and soften our emotions. We repress them rather than dwelling on them and allowing them to overwhelm us.

As we get older, we learn to put things in perspective, to believe in ourselves more and to realize that the emotions that sometimes overwhelm us are only temporary and don’t have to consume us.

This is referred to as personal development, among other things.

Let’s look at it the other way around: Those who manage to work on themselves at an (very) early age, i.e., actively pursue or do personal development, reach the above-mentioned state more quickly and are, therefore, more resistant to life crises of all kinds.

For those who want to go deeper, resilience — our ability to adapt well to the given circumstances and recover quickly after stress, trauma or tragedy — can be trained in four areas: emotional, cognitive and mental, physical, and spiritual resilience.

This training does not only improve your resilience but enhance your life quality in general, e.g., decrease your stress and anxiety by learning to get a different view on life and see challenges as opportunities.

Final thoughts

Life crises can be ‘managed’ to some extent. It all depends on your resilience — and this can be trained.

Progressing in personal development and building a strong identity are the two crucial factors here.

Either way, if you are unable to find the good during the crisis, you should at least reflect on it once the crisis is behind you and you can think ‘clearly’ again.

It ain’t half as bad as it seems or feels first.