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start your own business doing something you are passionate about
Easier said than done...
Over 80% of startups fail within the first three years. You have to actually have a real business plan that you have thoroughly researched, develop a network, invest a good chunk of money into the business (or take on a lot of debt), and even then there is a LOT of luck involved. It isn't as simple as "start your own business doing something you love." If it was that easy, everybody would be a successful entrepreneur.
I'm in Michigan, too, where the jobs are laying on the doorstep, and I'm 52, so I'm kind of in the same boat. When I mention that companies don't want to hire someone my age, people say, "But that's age discrimination! They can't do that!" Well, it's descrimination, but yes, they can and do.
Don't have much advise for you, just know that you certainly aren't alone.
This is probably not what you want to hear. That being said, I speak in good faith.
One of my old companies left one of the highly taxed, highly congested, zero job growth states for greener pastures during one of the last recessions. I dutifully went to the State Unemployment Office and signed up for everything they had. Nothing like networking with other unemployed people, right? lol!
At one of the classes, the jobs counselor was candid. He said "If you are over 40 in this state and looking for work, your best option is to 'start your own business'."
Ding-ding-ding. At that moment, that locale took on the smell of death. I made it my life's mission to follow the numbers and get out of Dodge, and to head strictly to where the numbers looked good for my demographic.
It turns out that "Knowledge workers" become more valued as they get older.
I researched everywhere on the planet - unemployment stats, industries, job titles, size of labor force, median per capita income by county, SAT scores by county and city (a surefire indication of a prosperous area is high SAT scores, regardless of salaries or if you have kids), etc. I REALLY worked the numbers. I did nothing else at night for a year. That, and I reworked my resume into problem solving format. That hint did NOT come from the State Unemployment office.
It took me a year anyway to dump my house, research and reposition my rez. and tie things up (another downside of being in a declining area is nobody is moving in, and nobody local can affort to buy your house because they're all hunkered down and trying to keep things the same). I went to the area I had picked on the basis of the numbers.
Quite frankly, I didn't care WHAT I was going to do for a living. What I DID know was that I was not going to hang it up, and the numbers pointed to the very real possibility that I would never "work" again in my home town. That was not an option. I positioned myself as a knowledge worker. Once I arrived in the targeted area, it took me two months to find a job that paid more than my previous one. The targeted area had good numbers (Low UE, good jobs for over-40) .
When your state UE office is telling you you'll never work in the State again if you're over 40, it's time to get out. To ANYWHERE. It's a tremendous freedom. I bless that UE guy for being candid.
I'd suggest sitting down with yourself to ask yourself some questions. And then I'd start to research. Life is not all about hanging on. It is possible to structure your situation so that you are the driver.
I also wouldn't recommend going back to school. It diverts energy away from getting out. Focus on reinventing yourself and getting out. As luck would have it, I did go back to school, but I'm not paying for it and I figure it's cheap entertainment. I haven't spent money in two years other than on printer cartridges, paper and a new computer with a ton of RAID storage.
The sister of somebody who is now a co-worker found herself in the same situation I did, in another state. Of course, I did not know this at the time. She did not have a lot of cash. She lived in her car in a campground forty miles outside of town, had an internet connection, and also found a job in a little over two months. Of course, she did not arrive during the winter. She targeted the area because her brother knew it had jobs from a previous rotation in the vicinity.
You've got some time to plan and act. In the immortal words of Dennis Hopper in that great basketball movie about Hickory, NC, "Don't get caught watchin' the paint dry!" Best of luck.
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