Part 2 of Midlife Reckoning ...

Aligning goals with meaning: transforming your “why” into tangible next steps.


Midlife isn’t the end of youth—it’s the beginning of wisdom. Whether it arrives as a whisper or a roar, the crisis is a call to live more deliberately. To shed illusions and step into a fuller, freer version of yourself.

At its core, a midlife crisis is a collision between past aspirations and present realities. It can be triggered by:

• The death of a parent or loved one
• Children leaving home (empty nest syndrome)
• Career stagnation or burnout
• Physical aging and health concerns
• A growing awareness of mortality

This crisis often manifests as:

• Restlessness or dissatisfaction
• Nostalgia for youth
• Anxiety or depression
• A desire to reinvent oneself

But it’s not just turmoil—it’s also a gateway. A chance to re-evaluate, re-prioritize, and reimagine.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You found the podcast Go Beyond the Brief, where we
take a deep dive into the societal currents shaping our lives. Together,
we'll explore the often unseen forces at play. We'll examine
the research, dissect the data, and most importantly, if you're
seeking to understand what's shaping our society.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Through or is it more specific like culturally, that's a
great point.

Speaker 3 (00:22):
It's largely seen as a cultural phenomenon, you know, especially
prominent in Western societies. It's not actually a formal psychological diagnosis.

Speaker 4 (00:29):
In the books.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Yeah, and it really really took off after Gail Sheehy's
book Passages back in nineteen seventy six, big best seller, right,
I remember that. And what's interesting is you see many
non Western societies view midlife changes just as well natural
life stages, which is a sharp contrast to our Western
culture of youth, which arguably can amplify the distress people feel.

Speaker 3 (00:52):
Okay, so let's stick into the history a bit. Where
did this idea even come from?

Speaker 2 (00:56):
Well, if you look back, Carl Jung was one of
the first a conceptual midlife way back in the nineteen thirties.
He called it the noon of the life cycle. But
He actually saw it as an opportunity, an opportunity house,
an opportunity to rediscover parts of yourself you hadn't developed,
So not inherently negative at all. The crisis framing came later.
Elliot Jacques. He formally coined the term midlife crisis in

(01:18):
nineteen sixty five, and he linked it much more to
confronting mortality, feeling disillusion and this sort of desperate desire
to postpone decline.

Speaker 4 (01:28):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (01:29):
And what's really wild to me is how the concept
started versus where it ended up. I read it was
initially promoted almost as a feminist idea applied equally to
men and women.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
That's absolutely true. It was about describing a dissolution of
traditional gender roles for both.

Speaker 3 (01:44):
But somehow it just became this cliche of you know,
the guy buying the red convertible or having an affair, How.

Speaker 4 (01:49):
Did that happen?

Speaker 2 (01:50):
Well, it really highlights how gender shapes the experience, doesn't it.
For men? It often does center on legacy achievement, you know,
asking things like have I done it enough? Will I
be remembered?

Speaker 4 (02:02):
The career focus exactly.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
Triggers are often career pressures, maybe unfulfilled ambitions and behaviorally, Yeah,
sometimes it manifests seeking younger partners, buying luxury stuff symbolic
of youth, or increased substance use, and studies suggest these
concerns tend to last longer for men, maybe like three
to ten years typically.

Speaker 4 (02:22):
Okay, And for women is it the same?

Speaker 2 (02:24):
Themes often different? Actually for women it frequently revolves more
around identity and roles, asking who am I beyond the
roles I've played mother, wife, daughter, employee, right, like redefining
yourself precisely. Common triggers can be menopause, the kids leaving home,
empty nest syndrome, or those heavy carriving responsibilities, you know,
the Sandwich generation thing, caring for kids and aging parents.

Speaker 4 (02:46):
Yeah, that's a lot of pressure, it is.

Speaker 2 (02:48):
And you see women reassessing careers. Actually, there's a notable
trend of more women becoming entrepreneurs in midlife. They might
reevaluate relationships too. Interestingly, their midlife concerns often seem shorter,
maybe two to five years. And crucially, many women report
finding midlife to be a really freeing and satisfying period.

Speaker 3 (03:07):
That's a completely different narrative than the usual crisis talk.
So given all this how common is a severe crisis?

Speaker 4 (03:13):
Really? Is everyone destined for one?

Speaker 2 (03:15):
That's the million dollar question, isn't it? And despite the
pop culture saturation, the research suggests only about ten percent
to twenty percent of people actually experience a severe midlife crisis.

Speaker 4 (03:24):
Only ten to twenty percent.

Speaker 2 (03:25):
Wow, yeah, many many people navigate midlife relatively smoothly, even
see it as a time of growth, although the strong
cultural narrative the stereotype might even create a bit of
a self fulfilling prophecy for some You know, that makes sense.

Speaker 4 (03:39):
And what about that you shaped happiness curve? We hear
about happiness dipping in the middle.

Speaker 2 (03:44):
Right, the idea that happiness generally declines from say, late adolescence,
hits a low point in the forties and fifties, and
rises again. But here's the key thing often missed. That dip,
when measured is usually tiny, tiny like how tiny? Like
maybe point two too point seven points on a ten
point happiness scale. So it's more like a subtle fluctuation

(04:04):
for most people, not some kind of debilitating collapse.

Speaker 4 (04:07):
So it was really not this period of inevitable decline
we sometimes imagine.

Speaker 2 (04:11):
Not at all. I mean, midlife is definitely complex. It's
often culturally framed as a crisis, and yes it's experienced
differently based on gender, But fundamentally it's a stage with
just immense potential for profound personal growth and redefinition.

Speaker 4 (04:26):
So maybe the.

Speaker 3 (04:27):
Takeaway isn't about fighting agent or desperately trying to stop
the clock, maybe a whole midlife crisis idea, or rather
the midlife transition.

Speaker 4 (04:34):
It's more like an invitation, an invitation to what. Reassess
your compass, get clear on what matters now

Speaker 3 (04:40):
And intentionally design a more authentic, fulfilling, purposeful well the
afternoon of your life, as young might say,