My wife has an insightful philosophy: How you are in your 40’s is how you will be in your 50’s, 60’s and on.
In your 20’s, you are finding yourself – your sense of ‘me’ does not truly reflect who you are. For myself, the 20’s were a decade of many changes, and candidly, I was many people during that time. Sometimes I was proud of who I was, sometimes not so proud. But it was a period of constant change. I compensated for lack of knowledge with pure energy and I was always learning (There was so much to learn!).
In your 30’s, most are experiencing a different type of change. Family life kicks in (children, etc.), the job is getting serious (and is often crazy) and you are building those experiences that shape your vision of self. It is a period of craziness, growth and slowly but surely, becoming who you will be. I would suggest that this is the period where we all recognize that we are not as smart as we thought we were in our 20’s (smile).
And in your 40’s most people are who they are. You are comfortable with who you are, it is the peak earning years where you are leveraging your skills and experience to maximize income, the balance between skill, experience and raw energy is attained. In the philosophy, she would also suggest that this is the period where your health is determined. If you don’t work out, watch your weight or take those steps to monitor your health, chances are it will not happen. After all, how many people pick up working out in their late 40’s? Not many I would wager – although those people do cyclically fund a robust multi-billion dollar diet industry.
An interesting viewpoint on turning 40:
‘I have been plagued by a gnawing sense of insecurity since childhood, something that I have tried to work on for years. I didn’t always like myself and found it hard to have confidence in myself or my work. Friends and family would often be frustrated when paying me a compliment because I never wanted to believe them. I thought that they were only saying the words to be nice. But for some reason, turning 40 is making me look at my life and the things that I have accomplished differently. What I am realizing is that I really do have some good stuff under my belt. I am realizing that I am the only one holding me back and that I can have another 40 remarkable years if I let myself. I am beginning to truly believe that age is only a number and that the soul is only as old as you feel”. Read the article here.
40 is now 2 years off. Maybe that is why I started working out?
Michael Weening: a few pictures 
I hear you buddy!
We are getting old!