I was going to write a top-level comment, but yours hit the nail on the head. For me, the biggest change after hitting 40 is that I can establish boundaries now

I was going to write a top-level comment, but yours hit the nail on the head. For me, the biggest change after hitting 40 is that I can establish boundaries now. I'm currently at 30 hours per week, 3 days in office and 1-2 at home. We hear a lot about F-U money, but not an F-U approach to making it happen. I feel that reclaiming 1 day per week for our personal development projects in one of the first pillars of F-U money. I'm only working now so that eventually I won't have to work for money, so that I can begin the real work of building an automated solarpunk future. I spent most of my 20s and 30s practically killing myself for projects, either at work or independently. When I hit 40, my health crashed and I went through the worst burnout of my life for the year of 2019, before COVID-19 in 2020. It felt like the part of my brain that handles problem solving and decision making died. So I lost almost all executive function and could barely get out of bed. I had to relearn how to make todo lists and strategize, and rebuild my resilience. Turns out that I had developed food sensitivities to the staples I had been eating, specifically Mexican food (my favorite) and dairy. When the immune system becomes sensitized to certain foods, it disrupts serotonin, which can lead to depression. Diets high in legumes and nightshades, without supplementation (B vitamins, minerals, fiber, probiotics, yogurt, etc), are higher risk because of how the anti-nutrients in them bind to the vitamins and minerals we need. I think this is where the stigma around vegetarianism and veganism comes from, but I digress. Anyway, I discovered ADHD and autism TikTok and went through a healing and growth process the last 2-3 years, like a lot of you I imagine. Which mostly involves shadow work and addressing the low hanging fruit like diet, meditation, inner monologue, etc. Now I see the healing and growth that the world needs to do, which it has not done, because powerful forces work tirelessly to prevent it and maintain the status quo. My point with all of this is, there can be anxiety with breaking the 40 barrier. I think it's helpful to flip the mindset from "I'm anxious about this" to "I'm excited about this". The body and mind can't tell the difference, because they are strongly rooted in this reality. But our higher selves can observe and nurture, transmuting negative energy into positive energy over time. I've found that after 40, I have much deeper wells of assistive energy and empathy. I've come to understand that we're all one. So now I see zero-sum games and people scrambling for a piece of the pie, which is mostly a waste of time and even kind of embarrassing to witness in these times. Better to think more broadly. Not so much "how will I make it through this", but more "what can I do to help" and start there.