When Do You Peak Professionally?

Most professional athletes near retirement in their early 30s, but a swelling group of master athletes today are in their 40s. As a business person, scientist, academic, physician, fisher, or school teacher, when are you at your best? When do you peak? While it varies for each person and is particular to each profession, it seems there are 5 categories to consider when identifying your professional peak:

1. Cognitive ability

2. Pattern recognition.

3. Physical skills

4. Adaptability

5. Passion.

Mental capacity to compute, deduce, and think probably is at its best in our late 20s to early 30s, however with age comes better pattern recognition. The experienced have been there before and know what to expect. The young upstarts, however, with a lot of energy and enthusiasm, are willing to push boundaries, take on risk, and tolerate failures. They likely, though, are naïve to the speed bumps and potholes in the road. While they may no longer have the same level of mental acuity as a rookie, the seasoned professional better knows how things are going to play out.

Hand/eye coordination, reaction times, and endurance may decline with age, but an ability to recognize players and the plays that are likely to happen reduces the energy needed to succeed; efficiency improves. Think Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, and Tom Brady—all very different performers later in their career than earlier. However, without sensitivity to the changing winds of time, the veteran—whether in business, athletics, medicine, or life—can get complacent and come to rely on patterns that no longer work. A veteran has to be willing to adapt to new technologies, treatment protocols, or lesson plans but at the same time not be quick to jump on every new fad.

Most important of the 5 categories is passion. Once passion is lost, so is the peak. It is now time to hang up the cleats or clean out the office. Passion can, however, be reinvigorated. That takes a concerted effort; one who is not willing to invest into renewing passion is no longer at their peak.

So, are you at your professional peak? You are if your cognitive and physical skill sets are strong, you have good pattern recognition, and an openness to change. Most importantly, you must have passion. When passion is high, professional peak can be extended.