Life stages

Personal Futures Network

Exploring YOUR future

Life Stages

Descriptions of life stages can be found in early Greek literature from the time of Hippocrates, and are based on observable changes in individuals during life, primarily based on biology. I’ve replaced the last stage, “Old Age” (which begins at age 55 in psychological literature) with four stages that I believe more accurately reflect life today.

As important as the stages themselves are the change periods between stages, which are sometimes difficult. Preparation and understanding help. Below are listed ten life stages, with a very brief description of each stage. Note that after age sixty, the stages are no longer related to chronological age.

It may be helpful to note that since the last three stages of life are health related, they are optional and not everyone experiences all of them. It is also noteworthy that there seems to be a trend toward compressing these three stages into a shorter period of time at the end of an increasingly longer life.

Your family and your future

Which life stage are you in now? Your children? Your parents? What is the next stage for each of you? Understanding the life stages of your family members helps you prepare for the changes in their lives and the resulting impacts on your life. on a separate page, you can download an Excel spreadsheet that will calculate ages and stages for you and your family members.

Go to the bottom of the web page and click on the "Downoad" page..

Understanding your life stages offers several insights into your future.

1. The stages iIllustrate the continuity and progression of life through ten stages.

2. The change from each stage to next identifies major periods of change in your life.

3. The stages invite visualization, images, of each of the life stages in your future.

4.Each stage identifies a time frames for planning

To begin planning for your futures, look at the life stage descriptions above and determine which life stage you are in now. Next, determine for which stage you want to create scenarios and a strategic plan. If you are only a few years into your present life stage, plan for this stage. If you have less than five years remaining in this stage, plan for the remainder of this stage and the next stage together. In middle age or Independent stage, plan for the next ten years.

Although you will probably do detailed exploration and planning for only one stage at this time, it is important that you look ahead to the other stages, all the way to the end of life, so you will have a view of your entire life. You will find that decisions you make early in life will have impacts on later life, and a full life view will be helpful.

The next page, Personal Domains is about the forces that shape and "drive" your life. There is also a worksheet that will help you calculate where each of those forces may be taking you in the future

Futurists & sites

Life forces Worksheet

Thesis Introduction

Your foreknowns