Philosophies for Life 130: Carl Jung - Why Turning 40 Becomes Your Superpower (Jungian Philosophy)
Dec 10, 2025
24:35
Carl Jung - Why Turning 40 Becomes Your Superpower (Jungian Philosophy).
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 podcast we’re going to explore why life really begins… at forty.
So here are 6 reasons why life truly begins at 40 according to Carl Jung -
01. We Spend Early Life Building a Persona
02. Midlife Opens the Door to the Inner Self
03. We Finally Understand Ourselves
04. Dreams Become the New Language
05. Opposites Seek Reunion
06. Spiritual Questions Emerge Naturally
I hope you enjoyed listening to these 6 reasons why life truly begins at 40 according to Carl Jung.
Carl Jung, together with Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler, is one of the 3 founders of psychoanalysis which is a set of psychological theories and methods aiming to release repressed emotions and experiences - in other words, to make the unconscious conscious. Jung was born in Switzerland in 1875 and died in 1961, leaving behind great works in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, philosophy, psychology and religious studies. Jung had Freud as a mentor for a good part of his career but later he departed from him. This division was painful for Jung and it led him to found his own school of psychology, called analytical psychology as a comprehensive system separate from psychoanalysis. If classical psychoanalysis focuses on the patient’s past, as early experiences are very important in personality development, analytical psychology primarily focuses on the present, on mythology, folklore, and cultural experiences, to try to understand human consciousness. One of the most important ideas of analytical psychology which Jung founded is the process of individuation, which is the process of finding the self - something Jung considered an important task in human development. While he did not formulate a systematic philosophy, he is nonetheless considered a sophisticated philosopher - his school of thought dubbed “Jungian philosophy”. Its concepts can apply to many topics covered in the humanities and the social sciences. A good part of his work was published after his death and indeed there are still some articles written by him that to this day have yet to be published. Some of his most important books are: “Psychology of the Unconscious”, “Man and His Symbols”, “The Archetypes and The Collective Unconscious”, “Modern Man In Search of a Soul”, “The Psychology of the Transference”, “Memories, Dreams, Thoughts”, and “The Relations Between the Ego and the Unconscious”. Besides being a great writer and a researcher, he was also an artist, a craftsman and even a builder. His contribution is enormous and there is a great deal we can learn from his works.
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 podcast we’re going to explore why life really begins… at forty.
So here are 6 reasons why life truly begins at 40 according to Carl Jung -
01. We Spend Early Life Building a Persona
02. Midlife Opens the Door to the Inner Self
03. We Finally Understand Ourselves
04. Dreams Become the New Language
05. Opposites Seek Reunion
06. Spiritual Questions Emerge Naturally
I hope you enjoyed listening to these 6 reasons why life truly begins at 40 according to Carl Jung.
Carl Jung, together with Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler, is one of the 3 founders of psychoanalysis which is a set of psychological theories and methods aiming to release repressed emotions and experiences - in other words, to make the unconscious conscious. Jung was born in Switzerland in 1875 and died in 1961, leaving behind great works in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, philosophy, psychology and religious studies. Jung had Freud as a mentor for a good part of his career but later he departed from him. This division was painful for Jung and it led him to found his own school of psychology, called analytical psychology as a comprehensive system separate from psychoanalysis. If classical psychoanalysis focuses on the patient’s past, as early experiences are very important in personality development, analytical psychology primarily focuses on the present, on mythology, folklore, and cultural experiences, to try to understand human consciousness. One of the most important ideas of analytical psychology which Jung founded is the process of individuation, which is the process of finding the self - something Jung considered an important task in human development. While he did not formulate a systematic philosophy, he is nonetheless considered a sophisticated philosopher - his school of thought dubbed “Jungian philosophy”. Its concepts can apply to many topics covered in the humanities and the social sciences. A good part of his work was published after his death and indeed there are still some articles written by him that to this day have yet to be published. Some of his most important books are: “Psychology of the Unconscious”, “Man and His Symbols”, “The Archetypes and The Collective Unconscious”, “Modern Man In Search of a Soul”, “The Psychology of the Transference”, “Memories, Dreams, Thoughts”, and “The Relations Between the Ego and the Unconscious”. Besides being a great writer and a researcher, he was also an artist, a craftsman and even a builder. His contribution is enormous and there is a great deal we can learn from his works.