Categories of Choices for Middle-Aged Individuals

Category one: people in midlife who hit a bottleneck, have a rough time on a big platform, and think about starting their own business or taking an executive role at a smaller company. Category two: people who’ve made up their mind to stay put at their old company, even if the industry is waning and the company isn’t doing well. They figure, “I’ll hang on as long as I can.” In the workplace, the survivors win. Maybe your old rival will get tired and leave—and you’ll get promoted instead. The other category: the rest are basically a mix of the first two. Someone leaves, it doesn’t go well, they want to come back—but then they can’t stand staying there, so they think about leaving again.