Carl Jung, one of the most respected psychologists of the 20th century,
believed that life doesn’t truly begin when we are young. In fact, he said, “Life really begins at
forty. Before then, you are just doing research.” What he means by this is that the first part of
life is mainly preparation. In our twenties and thirties, we are learning how the world
works. We try to build a stable life - we work, we build relationships, we try to be responsible,
to succeed, and to fit in. We form an identity based on what we think we should be. During this
phase, we are busy figuring things out and trying to prove ourselves. This is normal. Jung believed
this part of life is necessary. But when we get close to forty,
something starts to change. And this is where many people misunderstand what’s happening.
Our culture often makes turning forty sound like the beginning of decline - like youth
is over and everything after that is just a race to the grave. We’ve all heard the phrase
“midlife crisis,” as if anyone who questions or changes their life at this stage is falling apart.
Jung said the opposite. He believed that the feelings that show up around forty - the
restlessness, the questioning, the sense that something is missing - are not signs
of failure… but signs of growth. It’s not that life is ending. It’s that the first version of
your life has done its job. You have built a life on the outside - now you are ready
to understand your life on the inside. So when Jung said life begins at forty,
he meant that this is the age when experience finally allows you to see yourself more clearly.
It’s the point where life shifts from trying to prove who you are to simply living as who
you are. So in this video we’re going to explore why life really begins… at forty.
1. We Spend Early Life Building a Persona
Jung says, “Wholly unprepared, we embark upon the second half of life… but we cannot
live the afternoon of life according to the program of life’s morning.”
Jung once told the story of a man who came to see him in his mid-forties - a respected lawyer,
with a fine home and a family that loved him. By all outward measures, he was successful.
Yet he sat across from Jung feeling hollow, confused, and strangely lost. “I’ve done
everything I was supposed to,” he said, “and still I feel nothing.” Jung listened quietly,
then said: “You have built a beautiful house for your outer self, but now your soul is
knocking from the cellar, asking to be let in.” That simple observation captures the essence of
what Jung called the first half of life - the long phase of building the persona and strengthening
the ego. In the first half, our energy is turned outward. We learn to function in the world,
to make our way, to belong. We define ourselves through roles and achievements: the student,
the professional, the partner, the parent. We create a mask - the persona - that allows
us to move confidently through society. It isn’t false; it’s necessary. But it’s
not the whole truth of who we are. Jung described life as unfolding
in four main stages, each with a different psychological purpose:
The Athlete Stage, roughly ages 0–20: A time when identity is tied
to physical appearance, energy, and youth. The Warrior Stage, roughly ages 20–40:
A stage of ambition and effort. We work to build careers, families, and reputations.
The Statement Stage, roughly ages 40–60: The time when external achievements matter less,
and we begin to ask deeper questions like: What is meaningful? What do I truly believe in? And
The Spirit / Wise One Stage, roughly ages 60+: A period of reflection,
wisdom, and greater spiritual understanding. The lawyer in Jung’s story was right at the
transition point between the Warrior and the Statement stages. This often happens
around midlife. The job title, the social identity, and the image we show to others
stop feeling fulfilling. The ego, which used to motivate us, no longer feels like enough. The
goals that once mattered seem less important. The deeper self starts to ask for attention.
In simple terms: the person realizes that their achievements aren’t giving them the same sense
of meaning they once did, and they begin to wonder what actually matters to them personally.
Jung saw this moment not as a breakdown but as a call to transformation. The first half of
life is about building the house - the ego, the mask, the outer identity. But it cannot shelter
the soul forever. At midlife, the unconscious begins to press upward, demanding recognition.
For Jung, this is a sacred turning point. The first half of life was about becoming
somebody. The second half is about becoming yourself. The man who sat in Jung’s office
eventually understood that his depression was not an illness but a message - an invitation to
meet the parts of himself he had left behind. And that, Jung believed, is where life truly begins.
2. Midlife Opens the Door to the Inner Self
In the words of Jung “Thoroughly unprepared, we take the step into the afternoon of life. Worse
still, we take this step with the false assumption that our truths and ideals will serve us still.”
Not long after speaking with his patient, Jung wrote in The Stages of Life that many people in
their forties and fifties were not suffering from neuroses but from a loss of meaning.
He noticed a pattern: around midlife, the psyche begins to shift its center
of gravity. For decades, our energy is directed outward toward success, growth,
and recognition - but one day it turns inward. What once worked stops working. The goal that
once thrilled us now feels empty. It’s as if life no longer supports the path we’ve been walking.
Jung described this turning point as a summons from the unconscious,
a natural transition into the second half of life. To the ego,
it feels like a collapse - a “midlife crisis.” But to the soul, it is an awakening.
The patient who once found meaning in his legal victories now felt them hollow.
A woman who had devoted herself to being the perfect mother or wife began to ask,
“Who am I apart from these roles?” A man who lived only for his work began to feel a fatigue
that no vacation could cure. Jung saw these not as failures, but as the psyche’s call for renewal.
Jung compared our lives to the path of the sun. In the first half of life, we are like the sun
in the morning: rising, gaining strength, and pushing upward. We work hard, set goals,
and try to build a successful life. But eventually, we reach a point where that
upward climb can’t continue forever. Just like the sun stops rising at noon, we also reach a
point where “more” no longer satisfies us. The second half of life is not about climbing
higher. It’s about turning inward and understanding ourselves more deeply. It
involves facing parts of ourselves we may have ignored - our fears, our unmet needs,
our hidden desires. This can feel uncomfortable or confusing, which is why midlife often feels like
a crisis. But this inward turn is what leads to real wisdom and a deeper sense of meaning.
Jung wrote of one woman who embodied this. She was in her forties, admired by many, yet tormented by
a restlessness she couldn’t explain. “I have everything I ever wanted,” she said, “and yet
I feel as though I’m dying inside.” Jung told her, “It is not death that is approaching - it
is life. The life you have not yet lived.” This is the essence of the midlife crisis:
the soul demanding to be heard after decades of silence. It asks:
What have you ignored? What have you sacrificed for success? What parts of you are still unlived?
The symptoms - anxiety, emptiness, depression, irritability - are signals
that the psyche is ready to evolve. The outer world may seem to be falling apart,
but inwardly, something new is beginning. The ego built during the first half of life
has reached its limits. Now, life asks us to turn inward - to listen to the unconscious,
and reclaim parts of ourselves we set aside to fit who we thought we should be.
This is why Jung said that “life truly begins at forty.” Not because age brings wisdom
automatically, but because, for the first time, we are invited to meet the whole of who we are.
3. We Finally Understand Ourselves Carl Jung once wrote, “In the second half of life,
the question is no longer, ‘What must I do to succeed?’ but ‘What does life ask of me now?”
Midlife is the stage where many people notice a quiet pull toward reflection.
They may begin journaling, seeking therapy, returning to old interests, or becoming curious
about questions they once avoided. There is less interest in competition, comparison, and “getting
ahead,” and more interest in authenticity and emotional honesty. It’s not about giving up on
life - it’s about wanting that life to feel real. Jung saw this shift as natural. The first half
of life builds the structure: the career, the identity, the family roles, the social presence.
The second half asks what lives inside that structure. What is the point of the life we’ve
built? What is the self behind the performance? This stage often brings forward things
that were pushed aside earlier: Feelings we didn’t allow ourselves to feel
Parts of our personality we suppressed Interests we said we “didn’t have time for”
Or values we adopted simply because others expected them of us
All of these exiled pieces form what Jung called the shadow - not evil, but unlived.
It’s in the anger that wasn’t acceptable, the creativity that wasn’t practical, the
vulnerability that seemed dangerous, the desires that didn’t fit the identity we were building.
This process of facing what we’ve hidden and bringing it back into our lives is called
individuation. It's the slow, steady process of becoming whole. It does not mean becoming
perfect. It means becoming real. This doesn’t happen in dramatic breakthroughs but slowly,
through honest self-observation: Noticing what we feel but usually avoid
Admitting desires we were embarrassed to have Recognizing strengths we’ve downplayed, or;
Accepting flaws without shame Some people begin reconnecting with
passions they abandoned in youth. Others begin setting boundaries they never allowed themselves
to set. Some start asking deeper questions about purpose, mortality, spirituality,
or legacy. At this stage, life is no longer measured by achievement, but by alignment.
The question is not “What should I be doing?” but “What matters to me now - honestly?” Jung
believed that this was the real foundation of maturity: not age or experience, but
the willingness to listen inwardly, to meet the parts of ourselves we once ignored, and to live
from a place that feels true instead of expected. And so this is the beginning of the second half of
life - the awakening of self-understanding and the call toward inner truth.
4. Dreams Become the New Language
According to Jung “The dream is the small hidden door in the deepest
and most intimate sanctum of the soul.” Jung believed that the psyche has its own
language, older than logic and untouched by social conditioning. When the outer
identity begins to soften, this language rises to the surface. The soul does not argue, persuade, or
demand. It whispers, and its whispers come through dreams, intuition, creative urges, mood changes,
and the sudden return of forgotten memories. It is in midlife that many people begin to notice
their dreams becoming more vivid, more emotional, more meaningful. A person may have the same dream
again and again - walking down a hallway that leads nowhere, searching for a room that cannot be
found, losing something precious, or encountering a stranger who feels strangely familiar. These
dreams are not random. They are the psyche calling attention to the parts of the self that were
ignored or sacrificed in the march through life. During the first half of life, that door remains
closed because survival and achievement take priority. But in the second half,
when the soul begins to speak, the door opens - sometimes gently, sometimes suddenly.
Art, music, poetry, nature, spiritual imagery - these also become powerful. A particular song
begins to stir emotion for reasons you cannot explain. A painting feels strangely familiar. You
feel like you recognise a painting you’ve never seen before. Symbols like a bird, or a mountain,
a childhood place begin to appear in your thoughts or dreams.
Jung did not see these as coincidences. He saw them as guidance.
The unconscious does not tell you what to do - it shows you what you feel.
One of Jung’s patients was a man who had always seen himself as logical and in control. Then
he started having the same dream again and again. He was standing at the edge of a wide,
silent sea. Nothing moved, and the water stretched out forever.
He told Jung it was probably nothing. But the dream kept coming back. Each time, it left him
with a strange feeling - calm, but also unsettled. Jung listened patiently and thoughtfully
responded. The dream, he said, wasn’t random. It was showing the part of the
man’s life he had ignored. The man had spent years living from his head, solving problems,
staying steady, never letting emotion get too close. But the sea was a reminder that
his emotional world was still there - waiting. And over time, as he talked through the dream,
he began to understand what it meant. The sea wasn’t trying to scare him. It was asking him
to go deeper - to stop running from his own feelings and start listening to them.
And eventually, his dream changed. He wasn’t standing on the shore anymore. He was walking
into the water. It was cold, but peaceful. For Jung, that was the turning point.
The man had begun to reconnect with the parts of himself he had left behind - his emotions,
his instincts, his imagination. That was the real meaning of the dream.
It wasn’t about the sea at all. It was about learning to live from the whole self,
not just the part that feels safe.
This is how the soul communicates: not through argument, but through imagery
that the heart recognizes before the mind can even process, let alone understand.
It is the psyche saying, “There is more of you just waiting to be lived.”
So when Jung says that dreams, symbols, and imagination become important in the second
half of life, he means that the inner world finally steps forward as a guide.
5. Opposites Seek Reunion To quote Carl Jung "The animus
corresponds to the paternal Logos just as the anima corresponds to the maternal Eros”.
Jung said that the middle of life is where we are asked to do one of the most difficult
tasks a human can undertake: to become whole by integrating our inner opposites. He believed that
every person carries within them both light and shadow, strength and vulnerability, logic
and intuition, masculine and feminine energies — regardless of gender. In the first half of life,
we tend to choose one side and reject the other. We identify with what is socially rewarded and
suppress what feels inconvenient or uncomfortable. For example, a man may build his identity around
being strong, rational, and unemotional - the culturally reinforced “masculine.” Meanwhile,
his kindness, creativity, intuition, and longing for connection - his “inner feminine”, which Jung
called the anima - is pushed into the background, sometimes denied altogether. Likewise, a woman may
be encouraged to be nurturing, sympathetic, and relational - the socially approved “feminine.”
Her assertiveness, ambition, independence, and inner fire - her inner masculine,
or animus - may be ignored or even feared. But the psyche does not forget what has been
pushed aside. They stay in the shadow, below our awareness, and continue to influence us
in indirect ways. This can show up as sudden mood changes, strong reactions to people, unexplained
attraction or resentment, creative urges we can’t explain, or a general sense of emptiness.
Many people feel this most strongly in midlife. A man who has spent his life being practical and
rational may start to feel cut off from his emotions or sense of purpose. A woman who has
always cared for others may realize she’s lost touch with her independence and inner
strength. Jung called this a psychological turning point because the parts of us that
were neglected begin to ask for attention. Integrating the anima or animus starts with
noticing what we’ve rejected in ourselves. This isn’t about changing who we are but becoming more
balanced. For example, a man who realizes he has avoided vulnerability might begin to explore his
feelings more honestly - by journaling, talking with a trusted friend, or through therapy.
He might allow himself to enjoy art, music, or time in nature, where sensitivity and
intuition can emerge. These are small ways to reconnect with his inner feminine, or anima.
A woman who has always focused on harmony and relationships might start practicing saying
“no,” setting clear boundaries, or pursuing a personal goal she’s put aside. By doing this,
she connects with her inner masculine, or animus - the part that values independence,
confidence, and direction. But it’s important to know that
the process takes time and patience. It’s not about rejecting the person we’ve been,
but about adding back what’s been missing. And as we do this, life begins to feel more whole.
6. Spiritual Questions Emerge Naturally In our final quote from Jung for this video,
he says “Thoroughly unprepared, we take the step into the afternoon of life.”
When people reach midlife, many people start to feel a quiet pull toward something deeper.
This isn’t about religion or belief. It’s about meaning.
Jung noticed that after years of building a life on the outside, people begin to wonder what it’s
all for. They start to look for a sense of purpose that feels more genuine - something that connects
to who they are inside, not just what they do. Some notice small changes first. They pay more
attention to coincidence, intuition, or a feeling that certain moments matter
more than they can explain. Jung called these experiences “signals from the unconscious.” He
believed they were ways the deeper self tries to guide us toward balance and wholeness.
For others, this shift shows up in how they want to spend their time. They might
care less about climbing higher and more about helping others, creating something meaningful,
or simply being present with the people they love. Life becomes less about
achievement and more about authenticity. At this point, life doesn’t feel like
a race anymore - It feels more like a conversation… A discussion between who
we’ve been and who we’re becoming. And that, Jung believed, is where real peace begins.
And so, for those in their forties, fifties, sixties, or beyond, this is not decline. This
is rebirth. It is the moment your soul says: “You’ve spent so long becoming who you needed
to be. Now it’s time to become who you truly are.” So maybe the question to ask isn’t “What’s next?”,
but “What part of you is waiting to return?” If you like what we do on this page,
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