4 Stages of Life

There are 4 stages of life. Each of the stage has its own substages. In this article, we will discuss all the stages and substages and look at how they are applicable in our lives. Each and everyone of us are at different stage of life. And we know life is in stages and people are in sizes. 

Apart from the physical and mental growths that we experience as we go through life, there are other important changes we go through that are worth noting. We will look at them in this article. And it is paramount we pay attention to these things as they will help us understand where we are and where we are going to, and more importantly, making plans for our future and what exactly we want to do with our life.

Stages of life are periods when we go through certain experiences. There are some repeated patterns that are noticed as we go through each of these stages. And there is nobody in life that will not go through these stages. They are flexible and not age or time-bound. In fact, they are not location or race-bound. They are simply principles that happen to anyone and everyone.

They take place in-between our journeys in life and they can occur at anytime. Another important thing about these stages is that they can take place simultaneously at different areas of our lives. For instance, we might be experiencing mirroring stage in our marriage, while we are experiencing exploring stage in our career. And we might be experiencing commitment stage in our spiritual life, while we are experiencing legacy stage in our work or business. 

So, it all depends on many factors – what we are going through in life, our goals and ambitions, people around us, and so on.

The substages are phases we go through when we go through each of these stages. There are 3 substages. The first is growth or rising phase. The second is plateau or climax. And the third is fall or diminishing phase. The growth phase is the period we experience excitement and joy of starting a new stage in life. We feel the energy and enthusiasm to do far and beyond. We keep maintaining that momentum until we reach the climax.

The climax is when we feel the maximum energy and capacity. We are at the peak of all the excitement and enthusiasm of the stage we are in. At this phase, we feel we are on top of the world and anything is possible. 

More so, we don’t want that phase to end because that’s where we feel our best energy. That is where we express all of ourselves and pour ourselves into what we are doing. But that’s not the end. This phase is followed by the last phase which is fall or diminishing phase. This is when we no longer feel the energy or vibe that we experience in the first phase. They are gradually waning and there is decrease in momentum and energy, and we are ready to move on to the next stage of life.

At times when many of us go through this phase, we think something is wrong with us or we are not doing well. But that is not the case, this last phase is preparing us for the next stage of life. It’s showing us that it’s high time we changed where we are and what we are doing, and move on to the next stage of life. It’s interesting to know all of these things as it will help us to understand the stage or phase we are going through in life, and how our lives are full of hope and faith for the future.

Now let’s discuss each of these stages.

1. Mirroring or Mimicry Stage

This is when we learn from others and do what they do. We see what others are doing, and by default, we start doing it. This is usually our experience at the beginning stage of life. It is a time when we learn many things about life. We learn language, culture, values, traditions, and how the society works. There are also many daily habits we learn from our parents and family. We learn how to eat by watching them eat. We learn how to walk, talk, wear clothes, use restroom, take our bath, brush our teeth, cook, take care of ourselves, and so on. All these things we do by mirroring our parents and people around us. We simply see what they do and do likewise.

More so, we experience this even as we grow up. We see how others do their business, and we do likewise. We see how our friends choose their career, and we follow suit. We basically do what others do, even most times without knowing why. Our parents choose things for us because their friends or people they’ve seen have done those things.

Human beings, by nature, we are people of imitation. We learn most things by watching others. That is the same experience we have with people who are very close to us. They have so much influence on us than we could ever imagine. The mirroring effect happens that the people who are closest to us have the highest impact or influence on us because of this mirroring effect. They rub on us their thinking, talking, actions and mindsets. We adopt their words. We think like them. Talk like them and do things like them. In fact, we live like them. Many of us may not know how deep this mirroring effect is.

We can experience this stage at any time in our lives and at any area of our lives. We can experience this mirroring stage in our business, family life, career, financial life, relationship, and so on.

The issue with this stage is - most times, we might not have discovered our identity, so, we ended up taking the identity of others. More so, we may eventually give up our own identity even after we’ve discovered it. The hope is if we end this stage and enter a new stage, we may decide to let go of all we’ve absorbed and relearn things in our own way. But not so many people are able to go through that route and sometimes it can be hard going through that process. 

In conclusion, this stage is good to start life with. But definitely not the best to end with. We don’t want to keep mirroring other people till the rest of our lives, we want to move on to the next stage, which is –

2. Exploring Stage

This is when you begin to do things by yourself. You no longer wait on others to do things for you. You look for new things. Try new things. Go to new places. Meet new people. Make new things. You begin to explore and explore. The issue here is you don’t feel like sticking to one thing. You are reckless and restless. You love to make adventure. There is just this so much energy in your spirit for exploration. You are not settled or satisfied with where you are or what you are doing. You always desire to try new things. You always want to do new things. That is the stage of life that you are in.

As a matter of fact, life doesn’t make sense to you when you are staying in one place. You don’t find any fulfillment doing one thing all the time or repeating the same routine. You want to go out. You want to make new adventure. This is the time in your life when you are highly dissatisfied and uncontented with where you are and what is going on around you. this is also the time when you want to travel more. You want to meet people more. You want to leave what you are doing and do something totally new. This is the time when you want to leave your career, or business, or project or a place that you are used to. And you just want to enter a new world of unknown. A world where you’ve heard nothing about or know nothing about.

This stage of life is very interesting as you’ll come across many amazingly surprising and incredible things. You will make new mistakes and learn new things. You will also have opportunity to know more things. And have varieties of options in life. you will not only limit yourself to where you are or what you have.

At this stage, you will also be able to get used to taking risks, as this stage is marked by your ability to take risks. We know life is full of risks and it’s all about taking risks. If you are not taking risks in life, you are not progressing. And if you are not progressing, you are not doing well. So, when you take risks and you learn new things. You get better. You do better, and ultimate you live a better life of fulfillment.

3. Commitment Stage

This is a stage when you commit yourself to one area of your life. it is a stage when you put all of your time and energy into something. Your attention is focused on that time. And as a matter of fact, you can sacrifice at this stage of your life. you can stay focused and committed.

At this stage of life, you no longer feel the desire to move from one place to another or from one thing to another. Now, you want to settle. You’ve found what you want, you want to commit. It could be in your marriage, in your career, in your relationship, in your business and so on. the key point with this stage is you have decided to stay with one thing or one way. And that is what is reigning in your mind for now. What others are doing no longer attract you. yes, you can appreciate and celebrate them. But you are not freaked by them. You’re now committed to one thing that is ruling in your heart.

The commitment stage is also characterized by the desire to stay away from distractions and reduce/limit the options you have in life. it is also characterized by the ability to manage your freedom and exercise some level of discipline and focus in your life. It is a stage when you allow your strength to be channeled to one thing, and become more productive on that one thing. You can interloop between exploring and commitment stages, and also at different stages of life, and different areas.

4. Legacy Stage

This stage is characterized by the desire to have a lasting impact in the world. The desire to do something that will make people continue to remember you for good. This stage is when you try as much as possible to make your life valuable and pour yourself into people. You want to give people your full time and energy. You want to share with people vital lessons you’ve learned about life and things that have stood out for you.

This is usually the last but not the least stage of human life. It is a stage when all that matters to you is making a landmark and putting your name on the sands of time.

Something important with legacy is preservation of your values and works. All the works you’ve done, if they are good, you want to preserve them and keep them for the future generations. You want it to be easier for people to learn from you and tap from your wealth of experience.

So, those are the four stages of life. Hope you’ve discovered which stage you are in and which areas of your life you are experiencing any of those stages. In any of the stages you are in, maximize them and relish every moment you have in life. I see you stepping into a new level of success and greatness in life. Best regards.

-S.O PIENS 

May, 2023

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