Seven Year Cycles: Part 1

About ten years ago, while in college, I worked over my winter break. One of the professionals I was assisting sat me down and shared a perspective on life. I am not sure to whom this "theory" should be attributed, but I found it a fair way to evaluate one's progress through life.

Basically, with a +/- of a year or so, life is divided into seven-year segments.

0-7: You are really not a person, your main priority is to learn how to use your body, speak, and understand basic social function.

7-14: At this point you pretty much know you are an individual, but are still devoid of responsibility. The main goal is to learn about responsibility and to learn how to organize ideas.

14-21: Technically you are an adult now, although modern society still sees you as under the umbrella of education and parental control. This segment is focused on "developing a sense of identity - a process often label teenage rebellion.

21-28: Here you are likely out on your own for the first time as a functioning member of society. You are working and are setting yourself up for a stable place in the working world so that you can be the source of your own means.

*Note: The purpose of my mentor sharing this with me was to highlight the fact that if you are screwed up at one of these crucial "gateways," i.e. 7,14,21,28..., it will take you another seven years for society to allow you to progress to the next segment. By screwed up, he meant using drugs, in jail, or not working.

**Note: Timing the creation of a family plays a role in these cycles, and in this dimension there are differences with regard to gender. This is a little complex so I'll leave it for a later post.

28-35: This phase is built upon the confidence and experience of the previous. A time where one is expected to contribute to society, not just focus on surviving, exploration, and personal development.

35-42: You are likely in a more senior role in your job, and you have likely started a family. The cycle repeats here with the addition of your offspring who are themselves starting their cycles, and therefore look to you for guidance.

42-49: Again more seniority in career and a more developed family.

49-56: Thinking about retirement, kids are moving on.

...

I can go into more detail, but the main concept I want to get across is that setting goals for these landmark ages can be very productive. Re-evaluating one's life, on a macro-level, every seven years is good. Knowing that you have to stop bad behavior by a certain year in your life will only help you move to the next phase. Every seven years (and I am now in my second iteration since learning about this), I re-read books, revisit journals, and objectively evaluate every aspect of my life. I'm not perfect, and there are things that worry me, but I am able to say to myself, "if I want this in seven-years, I need to get these things fixed in the next 8 months."