I'm not sure I'm "good" at answering these kind of posts, but I'm the same age. I can't speak to everything, but I can to a couple things:
>I know the best of my life is behind me
Simply not true. This is a mindset thing, I think. I had a great time in my 20s and 30s, no regrets. But I wouldn't go back there for anything. Everything about being older and wiser feels better to me. Sure, I'm slowing down physically, but that's something I can (and do) easily work on.
>As I stand, I have no current skills related to either my education (MEng) or my previous work experience (BI Reporting/Analytics). I don't have ideas/skills/network for entrepreneurship.
So, this is going to be tough in the short term, no lies. But it's not insurmountable.
We're going to go through a little bit of a rough patch in hiring in this space thanks to the recession that's coming or we are already in. It sucks, but that's the way these economic cycles work.
But it sounds to me you are related to a hot segment of the economy. Take this time to catch up on the state-of-the-art. Data literacy is not going anywhere. Learn about and play with the tools of the Modern Data Stack. There are entirely new roles out there you can get into in this space: Data Engineering, Analytics Engineering, etc. Take whatever work you can in the space to get something on your resume. When the economy recovers you'll have no problem earning a living in the space.
This is an excellent comment. Exerting the effort in understanding and modifying mindset is critical to success in other changes. Humans often focus on negative, risk avoidant to a fault of penny-wise/pound-foolish.
>I know the best of my life is behind me
Simply not true. This is a mindset thing, I think. I had a great time in my 20s and 30s, no regrets. But I wouldn't go back there for anything. Everything about being older and wiser feels better to me. Sure, I'm slowing down physically, but that's something I can (and do) easily work on.
>As I stand, I have no current skills related to either my education (MEng) or my previous work experience (BI Reporting/Analytics). I don't have ideas/skills/network for entrepreneurship.
So, this is going to be tough in the short term, no lies. But it's not insurmountable.
We're going to go through a little bit of a rough patch in hiring in this space thanks to the recession that's coming or we are already in. It sucks, but that's the way these economic cycles work.
But it sounds to me you are related to a hot segment of the economy. Take this time to catch up on the state-of-the-art. Data literacy is not going anywhere. Learn about and play with the tools of the Modern Data Stack. There are entirely new roles out there you can get into in this space: Data Engineering, Analytics Engineering, etc. Take whatever work you can in the space to get something on your resume. When the economy recovers you'll have no problem earning a living in the space.