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People are reluctant to leave their jobs due to a sunk cost fallacy.

In our second act, we also know what we are looking for, so it is easier to find.

The skills that we have learned are directly transferable to the next career we pursue.

I have seen a trend among my friends and colleagues whereby, upon reaching middle age, they are unhappy in their jobs. Through the twists and turns in their careers, they have ended up in an industry, team, or role that they never intended to join and don’t know what to do next or how to get themselves out.

They experience the sunk-cost fallacy. They are reluctant to abandon their jobs because they have invested so heavily in their careers, even when it is clear that abandonment would be more beneficial. As they say, “I put in 20 years to get here.”

When we have put so much of ourselves into a goal or to reach a certain point, it can be hard to change. Hard to walk away from the money, the stability, or the title, even when we know that the work no longer makes us happy, the company is toxic, or the team is not a group of people we want to work with.

What to do? I think it’s time to make a change and challenge the assumption that we do not have the time or skills to make that change. With 65 the average retirement age for men and 63 for women1, my colleagues at age 45 still have half their careers ahead of them. Not to mention the friends in their mid-20s and 30s who feel the same way with decades........

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