Like many across the UK, I’ve been ill this week, and one of the side effects has been a deep, all-pervading feeling of hopelessness and depression. Although the cause of this has been primarily physical, my mind clearly needed something else to focus on. And so I ended up obsessing about my advancing age (55 this April) and wondering why I’m not more successful, career-wise.
If you’ve reached any sort of age yourself, you’ve probably experienced something like this.
At the start of your career, you probably imagined it playing out like a Lifetime movie, with you reaching dizzying heights of fame, riches and success by the time you hit 30. But it didn’t happen like that at all. And worse, in the current climate, it feels like you’re going backwards as clients and employers get more demanding, inflation reduces your living standards, AI decimates jobs and opportunities, and younger, fresher faces make you feel old and out of touch.
We’ve all had these thoughts, but there are plenty of positive strategies you can take to overcome them. To get some grounded advice from fellow creatives, we started a discussion on Creative Boom’s new social platform, The Studio, and we share the best tips in the article below.
Meanwhile, you can read the full discussion here: you just need to sign up to The Studio, and it’s totally free!
1. Celebrate your age and experience
Feeling down about “getting old”? Well, the first thing to do is reframe the problem. Because advancing in years isn’t actually a problem: it’s a benefit!
What really is a problem when you’re young and you don’t know anything, forcing you into years of “faking it till you make it”? In turn, getting older and more experienced is a bloody good thing, and we should celebrate it and everything we’ve learned to date on a continuous basis.
After all, what we’ve learned isn’t just facts and figures; it’s a deep and powerful understanding of what we do and how to do it.
Take Nvard Yerkanian, an award-winning Armenian graphic designer and illustrator based in Venice. “Over the past decade, I’ve come to understand how my creativity works,” she explains. “It’s no longer a fleeting muse that appears and disappears at will; it’s something I nurture, structure and trust. I’ve learned that inspiration isn’t just about waiting for the right moment; it’s about building an environment that allows creativity to flourish.”
Another liberating thing about reaching this stage of your career is the ability to be more selective. “One of the biggest shifts has been how I manage my time and my relationships with clients,” says Nvard. I’ve become much more mindful of where I invest my energy, learning to say no when something isn’t a ‘hell yes!’. This lesson has brought both creative and professional fulfilment.”
In other words, while younger professionals might still be figuring out their working rhythms, midlife creatives often know precisely what conditions help them thrive. That’s flipping awesome, right?
2. Take more risks
Is midlife making you slow down and feel stuck? Then, understand that this isn’t an inescapable fact of existence; it’s a choice. And you can choose to go in a completely different direction.
Take inspiration from Daniel Chimal, an illustrator based in Germany. “I turned 40 last year, and something happened that I didn’t expect,” he explains. “I suddenly began to feel the urgency of creative achievement. It’s like a deadline came out of nowhere, and now the pressure is stronger than ever. I’m now trying to use this feeling as motivation to take more risks and rethink the way I’ve been doing things.”
Yes, the pace of technological change can be overwhelming and make you feel like throwing in the towel. But again, you can choose to go in the opposite direction. Follow the example of Denise Strohsahl, who has 24 years of experience as a copywriter and marketer, including 15 years running her own consultancy.
“For me, it’s actually all the changes, new tools and challenges that keep it interesting,” she stresses. “You can get complacent quite easily, and nothing stifles creative work more than repetition and same-ness. I learned early on to specifically set aside time for new ideas and research, to try out new things and to explore new tools and platforms. It’s part of the fun!”
3. Consider a pivot
Feeling bogged down doing the same thing you’ve been doing for decades? Then why not flip the script? Many of us find midlife the perfect time to refocus our careers.
Among them is Nathan Ryder, who’s worked in design since leaving university aged 21 in 1994. “Around the mid-2010s, traditional graphic design jobs were starting to slow down for the company I was creative director for,” he recalls. “So, in 2017, I chose to go freelance. “Instead of spreading myself too thinly and having to compete with too many other, better, local graphic design freelancers. I decided to specialise in one field: book design.”
Rob Cursons, head of marketing at n-fuze, echoes this sentiment. “My main survival tactic in the creative world is adaptability,” he says. “And I don’t mean just learning new creative tools, I mean changing my entire career from graphic design to marketing.
“I’ve read a few times that many people make huge career changes around the age of 44,” he continues, “and it’s a good idea to make these by this age. The best way to keep going and enjoying yourself is to do things that genuinely interest and challenge you.”
4. Prioritise your wellbeing
One of the benefits of being young is the ability to burn the candle at both ends. But conversely, one of the benefits of midlife is realising you don’t actually have to bother and enjoying the feeling of getting a decent night’s kip.
Matthew Gallagher has spent almost 37 years as a creative professional, and here’s one thing he’s learned above all else. “Grinding is a myth that kills your creativity,” he stresses. “Instead, get eight hours of sleep and eat a balanced diet. You can never replace your health, and a clouded mind will not be effective. Exercise as much as your body will allow.”
Ben Mottershead, founder of Never Dull Studio, couldn’t agree more: “From experience, I found that you can’t force inspiration,” he says. “I’ve honestly learnt to just take the gas off a little and stop trying to work all hours of the day. Now I’m in my 30s, I’ve found experiencing new things like pot throwing, going out walking or just going to the pub gives me far more inspiration than I ever got hammering away on my computer into all hours of the night.
“I’m also expecting my first child in June, which is another scary aspect to tackle,” he adds. “But we’re already in the process of setting up a little art studio in the house, so we can continue to play and be creative after we’ve made it through the sleeplessness and nappies.”
Denise, meanwhile, puts it very succinctly. “I used to think I had to work a lot to rest,” she says. “Now I make sure I rest enough to do my best work.”
5. Foster fresh connections
While midlife can bring benefits in terms of better work-life-party balance, one downside of this can be a feeling of isolation, especially if you’re freelance. Branding and graphic designer Leanne Mallinshaw, who recently relocated from England to Northern Ireland, emphasises the importance of rebalancing things and making an effort to forge new connections.
“If you work on your own, like I do, there’s so much value in building a network of other creatives,” she stresses. “Whether on or offline, having people to collaborate with, be inspired by, share war stories with, and just become friends with makes all the difference. So don’t be afraid to slide into people’s DMs and ask to meet for a chat!”
W.S. Cranmore, a contemporary artist and painter, agrees. “I’ve found that engagement is key. Building a community, supporting each other, and having conversations,” he says. “There are always scarce times, but engagement helps more than making posts and reels.”
6. Trust your experience
Can’t keep up with all the new stuff? Creative director Reuben Turner suggests focusing on deeper currents rather than fleeting trends. “A few years ago, I was introduced to the concept of ‘pace layers’; the idea that some aspects of culture move faster than others,” he notes. “At 54, I like to think I’ve learned what to focus on, not necessarily those fast-moving, lower-impact aspects of creativity like social media trends. But the slower, more significant elements like human insights, proposition and longer, more macro cultural shifts.”
In other words, once you’ve spent decades in the industry, you’ll have developed finely-tuned instincts, which are ultimately priceless. Yes, when someone half your age is showing you how to do something on a phone, it can feel like you’re becoming old and out of touch. But just think: that app, that phone even, will probably be out of date before the year is out. Those fundamental principles, practices and understanding of how humans and society work that you’ve internalised, though, they’re pretty much eternal and far more useful.
As graphic designer Liam Jackson, 41, puts it: “On the creative side, years of experience help give a sharper eye, instincts and the ability to execute ideas with more clarity and confidence. I trust my gut more now than when I started, and my approach to design has evolved beyond just making things look good; it’s more strategic, conceptual and intentional.”
Who would ever swap that absolute superpower for something trivial like how to add an effect on TikTok? Plus, don’t forget: on the whole, younger people know absolutely fuck all. And I don’t just mean academic or historical knowledge. Ask the average twentysomething if they’ve ever watched Pulp Fiction or Trainspotting, let alone Gone with the Wind or Citizen Kane, and they’ll stare at you with a blank expression. Is that really a mindspace you’d prefer to inhabit?
7. Get some perspective
If you’re feeling down about your age, one of the best things you can do is get a sense of perspective. If you’re turning 40, you might feel like your life is ending. But to me, as a 55-year-old, you’re impossibly young; I’d love to be 40 again! And logically, that same dynamic applies to whatever age you reach. How many 90-year-olds fondly remember the days when they were young and vigorous at 80?
More broadly, it’s useful to view midlife as just another chapter in an ongoing creative journey. As Liam Jackson reflects: “For me, at 41, I’ve been doing this design thing for years, and it still feels like I’m only just getting started. It’s that feeling that despite all the experience you’ve built up, there’s still so much more to explore, refine and achieve.”
Creative director and consultant Paul Leon has an interesting take on this. “People talk about how they remember how everything was new, being wide-eyed, curious, questioning, playful, willing to change, read more, drew more, wrote more, took risks, explored, had side quests and were more rebellious and authentic… when they were younger,” he says. “But I don’t feel like I’ve ever lost that.”
So, where does that perspective come from? “Even when I was younger, I realised that life is actually finite,” Paul explains. Remembering that gives you context. Remember that every day, every project is a new, unexplored, unopened box of opportunities to do other things.
“Check your ego,” he adds, “you are always learning. Be decent but don’t take crap because no one should have to: be punk rock about it. Choose to work with good people, whatever that means to you if you can. Don’t forget what you’ve learned, but always try as much as you can to look forward to things.”
Along similar lines, graphic designer Tony Clarkson says: “I’m certainly in the beyond sector, but what keeps me going is the ever-present need to produce good work to be proud of. It still doesn’t happen as often as I’d like or as often as I thought it would by now. But it’s still exciting when it does. If it weren’t, it would be time to think of a change, but even then, I don’t think I’d be able to.”
And isn’t that, ultimately, why we chose creative careers in the first place?
