Laid off after twenty-odd years, passed over for the third time, or still working but quietly wondering if this is what you want to be doing for the next fifteen years. Any of those can leave you asking what's next, and none of them means your potential went out the door with your job title.
You've already heard about the ageism, the layoffs, and the job market. This episode skips the doom and hands you a simple way to start sorting your options, using a sheet of paper, three columns, and a seven-day challenge that costs you nothing. You can also read the full transcript here.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
You don't need a brand new passion to figure out what's next, because sometimes the answer is a different way of doing something you already love.
A three-column list titled Keep, Release, and Explore, made on paper or in your phone's notes app, shows you what to carry forward, what to leave behind, and what you're curious about.
Knowing what you're done with, whether that's nights and weekends, a long commute, or answering email at 9 o'clock at night, is just as useful as knowing what you want.
Three possible directions, such as staying in your field in a different role, trying something completely new, or changing how you work, are easier to compare than one vague "what now?"
Asking whether each direction fits the life you want now, makes sense financially, and is something you actually want to do keeps you from choosing something you're merely good at.
You can spend seven days just investigating one thing from your Explore column, with no contacting anyone, no posting, and no website, and it can sit alongside an active job search.
"Just because somebody eliminated your position doesn't mean they eliminated your potential."
Inside the Episode
Trish opens by naming what a lot of women over 40 are carrying: the sense that the rules changed halfway through the game and nobody mentioned it. She talks about noticing in her early forties that conferences, training, and new roles seemed to go to younger colleagues, and how that pushed her to ask why someone else should decide when she's done growing. From there she turns to the way we define ourselves by a job title, and what happens when the title disappears or you've been out of the workforce raising kids. She shares her own Keep, Release, Explore moment from years in learning and education, where she loved the work, hated being told she couldn't do it better, and eventually built something on her own terms. Then she walks through the exercise itself, how to turn it into three possible directions with three questions each, a seven-day challenge to investigate one curiosity, and a reminder that being Gen X means you've figured out harder things than this.
Try this: your Keep, Release, Explore sheet
Grab a piece of paper or open the notes app on your phone and make three columns. No planner or 47-page workbook required.
Keep
What have you done over the years, at work, at home, or anywhere else, that you actually enjoyed? Maybe you loved helping new people learn the ropes but hated managing them. Maybe you liked planning events but never wanted anything to do with the budget. Those parts can travel with you, even into a completely different role.
Release
What are you done with? Nights and weekends, the long commute, the late-night email, the pizza party that's supposed to make up for everyone being overworked. This column fills up fast, and that's useful.
Explore
What have you always been curious about? A skill, a career you've wondered about, an interest you never had time for. It doesn't have to become a job, make money, or turn into anything at all.
Then pick three directions and ask three questions
Does this fit the life I want now?
Does it make sense financially?
Do I actually want to do it?
The three directions can be as simple as staying in your field in a different capacity, trying something completely new, or changing how you work (more flexibility, part-time, or independent) without changing what you do.
The seven-day challenge
Pick one thing from your Explore column and spend a little time learning about it this week. Watch a few videos about the field, read job descriptions for roles you've never considered, try a free online course, or look up a local organization that does something interesting. If it turns out you wouldn't enjoy it, that's one less thing to wonder about.
Want a thinking partner?
If you've been using ChatGPT or Claude since the last few episodes, paste in your three lists and try this:
Here's a situation I'm dealing with: I want to figure out what's next in my career. Here are my three lists. Keep: [what you want to carry forward]. Release: [what you're done with]. Explore: [what you're curious about]. Ask me follow-up questions one at a time, then help me turn this into three possible directions. For each one, help me think through whether it fits the life I want now, whether it makes sense financially, and whether I actually want to do it.
Still job searching while you figure this out? Catch Episode 31, Can't Get Hired After 40? What Actually Works Right Now, along with the rest of the show: tlc-creative.com/just-a-number
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