I did not plan a career change at 50, but now that I’m in process, it feels like one of the best life decisions I’ve made in a long time. Here are some of the reasons you might be thinking of this life change.

Your current job is out of alignment with your interests and values. In my case, I felt I had outgrown my teaching job at the college and wanted to pursue e-learning. There were no new opportunities with this employer.

You feel invisible. You may work for a large company or organization and are a cog in a wheel. In my own case, as a Communications instructor working on contract,I found my managers disinterested in using my skills to create better courses. As long I showed up to teach the same course in the same slot—that’s all that mattered.

You can’t get out of bed in the morning. In my case, since I had been teaching the same old stuff for 10 years, I started feeling more interested in lying in bad all day and watching cold case shows rather than going to work.

There is no room for growth. You are not satisfied doing the same old thing. There are no opportunities for promotion

There is pressure to push you out. You hear the words “budget” and “cutbacks” around every corner. In my own case, management cut instructor hours and hired less experienced cheaper people. to replace more experienced expensive staff.

Your career is out of synch with who you are now. Life is a process of growth. Everything changes. I believe everything has a beginning, a middle and an end. When you first take a job, there’s a learning curve, then mastery, and then a period of being the expert. Then it gets boring if there are no new challenges. In my own case, I felt my interests change as I pursued further training in Online education and began to dabble also in Internet Marketing. You may also want a different lifestyle. I had once had a home-based business, but said goodbye to that 15 years ago. Now, I wanted more flexibility again, and to work for myself.

Newsflash: you can make a career change at 50. You are not too old to rewrite your life story and reset your career. You have two things you didn’t when you were younger – wisdom and experience. Now’s the time to create a new story and a broader self definition. and sense of self beyond the old roles you may have outgrown.

R.B. Malo has worked as an adult educator for 15 years, and is transitioning to a career in affiliate marketing. For more on midlife career change, or on how to become an affiliate marketer see my site.