你是否已经提前进入"中年危机"

Jodie Rogers, a careers coach, says work is a source of crisis for her middle-aged clients. “They ask themselves what legacy they are leaving behind. They start to feel bad about feeling discontented. They have a job and pay cheque, they don’t know if they have the right to seek more. There is a real tug of war between the feeling they should be satisfied with their life and wanting to do something more meaningful.”
职业指导顾问乔迪•罗杰斯(Jodie Rogers)表示，对她的那些中年客户来说，工作是一个危机感的源头。“他们问自己能给后世留下什么。这种不满足感开始让他们感到不安。他们有工作，有薪水，但不知道是否有权寻求更多。他们左右为难，不知道是应该安于现状，还是应该做一些更有意义的事情。”

Paul Dolan, professor of behavioural science at the London School of Economics, and author of Happiness by Design, believes we need a mix of purpose and pleasure in order to feel truly happy. In a forthcoming paper, he argues that much of the economic literature on midlife crises focuses on our evaluations of what makes us happy rather than our actual experiences. In other words, the stories we tell ourselves about what makes us happy – that a prestigious job is good – even if our day-to-day experience of the work makes us miserable.
伦敦政治经济学院(LSE)的行为科学教授保罗•多兰(Paul Dolan)着有《设计幸福》(Happiness by Design)一书，他认为，要真正感到幸福，我们既要怀着目标，也要保持心情愉悦。他在一篇即将发表的论文中提出，许多关于中年危机的经济学文献聚焦于我们自认为的幸福理由，而不是我们实际的体验。比如说，我们告诉自己，体面的工作让我们感到幸福，即便实际上我们的日常工作让我们感到痛苦。

Other experts, however, dismiss any connection between age and crisis. Susan Krauss Whitbourne, professor of psychology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, sees age as a “social construct, highly dependent on the individual”. The attraction of seeing midlife as a period prone to crisis, she says is akin to horoscopes: “It gives you certainty. It gives an excuse and an expectation.”
然而，有些专家对年龄和危机存在联系的说法不以为然。马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特分校(University of Massachusetts Amherst)的苏珊•克劳斯•惠特伯恩(Susan Krauss Whitbourne)教授认为，年龄是一种“社会建构，在很大程度上取决于个人”。她表示，认为中年容易出现危机的说法具有像星座学说一样的吸引力：“它带给你确定感，提供一种借口，一种预期。”

She does, however, think that today, more people want to express their true sense of self in their job.
然而，惠特伯恩也认为，如今更多的人希望在工作中展现对自我的真实感知。

Elizabeth agrees – she says her parents are baffled by her career dissatisfaction: “They say it is a luxury of my generation. They never thought of enjoying their careers – they just got on with it.”
伊丽莎白对此表示赞同，她说，父母不理解自己为何对职业感到不满：“他们说，职业满足感是我们这代人的奢侈品。他们从未想过在职业上获得享受，他们只是按部就班地工作。”

Many people, says Prof Whitbourne, fantasise about dramatically quitting their jobs. But, she says, “it is better to make baby steps towards a change”.
惠特伯恩表示，许多人幻想着突然辞职。但她表示，“一点一点地做出改变会更好”。

Dr Sinclair agrees: “People can be too goal-focused. They have ticked off making money and career goals, and wonder what next?” He helps them to understand life is not about ticking off their goals but living by their values. Rather than resign, they may find that making small changes in their jobs, for example collaborating with colleagues or mentoring a junior employee, can make work feel more meaningful.
辛克莱对此表示赞同：“人们可能过于看重目标，在完成赚钱和职业方面的目标后，他们不知道下一个目标是什么？”辛克莱帮助人们明白，人生的意义不在于完成一堆目标，而是要活出价值来。与其辞职，还不如在工作中做出小改变，比如与同事合作或者指导初级员工，这可能让人觉得工作更有意义。