Chapters
What you can build changes by life stage. The possibilities available at 25 differ from those available at 45. Understanding your current chapter shapes which experiments make sense now.
Life Is Not Three Stages
The traditional model divided life into three distinct phases. Education until your early twenties. Work until your mid-sixties. Retirement until you die. This model made sense when life expectancy was shorter and career paths were linear.
That model is breaking down. People live longer, change careers more often, and face a world where the skills that mattered in one decade may not matter in the next. The three-stage model does not accommodate these realities. It forces people into boxes that no longer fit.
A more useful approach is to think in chapters rather than stages. Chapters are periods defined by your current constraints and freedoms, not by age alone. Each chapter has its own possibilities and its own limits. The question "What else could I be?" produces different answers in different chapters.
The Exploration Chapter
You have time, energy, and relatively few obligations. You can afford to experiment broadly, to try things that might not work, to gather information about what fits and what does not.
What You Have
- Time to recover from mistakes
- Energy for demanding experiments
- Fewer financial obligations
- Flexibility to relocate or pivot
What To Build
- Portable skills that transfer
- Knowledge of what fits
- Relationships across domains
- A track record of learning
The Building Chapter
You have enough experience to see patterns, enough credibility to take on larger projects, but growing obligations that constrain dramatic pivots.
What You Have
- Demonstrated capabilities
- Professional relationships
- Some domain expertise
- Credibility from track record
What To Build
- Depth in chosen areas
- Leadership experience
- Financial foundation
- Options for the next chapter
The Leverage Chapter
You have accumulated significant capabilities and relationships. The question shifts from what you can do to how you can multiply your impact.
What You Have
- Deep expertise in specific areas
- Extensive professional network
- Pattern recognition from experience
- Credibility and reputation
What To Build
- Systems that extend your reach
- Teams you can lead or advise
- Platforms for your expertise
- Flexibility for the next transition
The Integration Chapter
You have decades of experience and wisdom. The question becomes how to integrate what you know into arrangements that create meaning while accommodating changing priorities.
What You Have
- Wisdom from decades of experience
- Clear sense of what matters
- Freedom from proving yourself
- Perspective others lack
What To Build
- Arrangements aligned with values
- Ways to transfer knowledge
- Legacy through mentorship
- Balance that sustains energy
Your Chapter Is Not Your Age
These descriptions are not prescriptions. A 35-year-old who just changed fields may be in an Exploration chapter. A 28-year-old with significant obligations may need Building chapter strategies. The chapter you are in depends on your actual constraints and freedoms, not on a number.
The point of thinking in chapters is to match your experiments to your circumstances. Some experiments make sense when you have time and few obligations. Others make sense when you have credibility and resources. Knowing your chapter helps you ask better versions of the question "What else could I be?"
You will move through multiple chapters in your professional life. Each one offers different possibilities. The skill is recognizing which chapter you are in and designing experiments that fit.