These are the most popular posts on Midlife Tribe. Each one seemed to strike a chord, triggering honest, candid responses from people I've never met. Together, they chronicle some of the most valuable lessons learned on my journey towards a happier life.
It's tough to create a side hustle after ten hours away from home each day. You're exhausted. Your kids need you; your partner needs you. A great first step is to do your 'normal' job from home because if you can work on your terms, you gain a lot of the same benefits – before you even start a business.
I thought I'd be making a big splash this week with my new project, but sadly, I'm just not ready yet. Lucky for you (and me), my adorable sister has stepped into the breach once again with a fabulous story about her journey as a writer, as seen through the eyes of a psychic. Enjoy!
Sometimes I look up at the night sky and wonder why I'm stressed about a deadline or some arbitrary goal. Seen from outer space, the concerns of this solitary human must surely seem laughable. I then remember how small I am, and the stress vanishes.
It's taken me a long time to figure out how I can serve my little corner of the universe, and even longer to realise I'm starting to make a difference in some people's lives. Tania Dalton knows this journey well. And like most who commit to sharing their life out in the open, she's overcoming old beliefs that don't serve her bigger picture. She's still figuring things out as she goes, but as I'm discovering, it's the very best way to live – to treat life as a constant series of experiments....
I'm neck-deep in an exciting new project right now, so thankfully, my amazing sister's come to the rescue with another fresh take on middle-age. This is delightfully short, salty and very satisfying – like a box of Barbeque Shapes. Example: "If we're not careful, we spend too much time working, making money and planning for the future. Take time to relax NOW. Your health demands it."
Achieving goals doesn't make us happy. It doesn't cure our insecurities, our anxiety or our depression. If anything, it amplifies them, because there's always more… Victory is always fleeting, but the mountain range is endless. As Prince said, 'I've been to the mountaintop, and there's nothing there. So what's a better approach?
Most of us work to retire. But what if we decided to retire right now, and instead chose how, where and when we did it? How much fun would 'retirement' be? Today's Midlife Mentors guest, Tom Schwab did exactly that, and it changed his life from one of fearing death to embracing life.
Before this generation, no one our age ever witnessed the opportunities we're now seeing. And there's plenty of room for everyone because it's never ‘everyone' that goes for it. Few will make a deliberate decision to step out and try something that might not work. So start exploring, and blaze your own trail!
Imagine losing your marriage and your income in the same year, and then selling everything you own just to stay off the streets. Now picture doing this as a 45-yo mother of two little girls who desperately need you to love, feed and protect them. Picture the fear, the anxiety and the hopelessness. How would you cope?
With each evolution, each rung up the ladder, we realise our problems aren't eliminated – they're replaced with new ones. You cannot avoid problems. But problems aren't the problem. Rather, it's our relationship to problems. Instead of problem avoidance, exercise problem selection.
Time will always be fluid. Sometimes it will drag its feet and other times it will fly so fast you cannot grasp it. But you decide how you spend your time to enrich your life and the lives of those you love. Don't let it slip through your fingers lest it runs out before you expect. Because it almost certainly will.
"If it’s failure you’re afraid of, ask whether you’d a) rather have tried and failed, or b) spent every single day of your life with the same loop of thoughts in your head about what you really want to be doing and why you’re not. If you don’t try, prepare to settle for option B." Laura Belgray.
Three years ago, I was busy having a midlife crisis. I railed against work days and longed for weekends. I sought adventure and escape from the daily routine but nothing I did seemed to change anything. Then, one night at 2:00 am I did something that changed everything. Learn what I did and I how I changed my life.
"As the late Jim Rohn said: 'If you don’t like how things are, change them. You’re not a tree…' All successful investors, business people and entrepreneurs have failed more often than unsuccessful people. They became a success at failing. And they've survived until they became lucky and thrived." Michael Yardney
I used to believe happiness could be bought, so I worked hard and I tried to buy it over and over again. But I was never satisfied. There was always another level; always more. I finally learned that by linking happiness and goals, we treat life as a quest, and therefore paradoxically, delay happiness.
Discover your true calling through the incredible insights of Catherine Rains - who beat cancer, divorce, and a job she hated to become a successful full-time artist. She's now living her dream, and it's all because she reframed her life in a couple of profound ways. "I now surrender & accept with gratitude whatever shows up on my path, especially the 'bad' stuff, knowing that it's ALL for my highest good."
Everything I do today is filtered through a simple, unambiguous question: ‘Will this bring me closer to freedom or push it further away?' If I'm honest, it's been a consistent thread in my life since I was a kid. But what is freedom, exactly, and why is it important?
Our generation is blessed with a gift, and his name is Seth Godin. Seth's insights are concise, thoughtful, and irreplicable. To read, watch or listen to him is to have your life changed every time. Enjoy this instalment of Midlife Mentors, and Seth's original perspective on midlife.
In the absence of role models, it becomes our job to instil belief in ourselves. Indeed, even with the benefit of mentors and role models, we have to reinforce our self-belief almost daily to counter the negative messaging we see all around us. But what level of belief do we need?
Ken Fife is one of my most trusted & revered mentors. Through countless challenges, Ken's been my voice of reason. He personifies everything it means to be a good man, and after starting over, he's built a life many over-70's (indeed anyone) would envy.
Finding the right career or business isn't just a case of 'following your passion'. It's a delicate balance between five key elements. Many of us chase the wrong metrics, or we only focus on one. I've created a 6-step guide will help you figure it out.
Corbett is a man I respect as much for his piercing intellect as his pragmatic wisdom. He's one of the first people I discovered almost 3 years ago when I scrambled out of the abyss otherwise known as my midlife crisis. It's my pleasure to showcase his thoughts on midlife for the first instalment of Midlife Mentors.
Everything we need to live an authentic and fulfilling life is available online, and most of it is free. But because there's SO MUCH information, it's hard to know what comes first, what comes fifth, and what we can ignore. That's why I've decided to turn pro and teach you how to work from home because I know it can change everything for you.
Investing in midlife is already a drag, so ethical (sustainable) investing can feel like a bridge too far. After all, what about the returns? Listen in on my conversation with author and ex-UN adviser, Marc de Sousa Shields, and learn how to get rich through sustainable investing.
You'll be exactly the same person five years from now except for two things: the people you meet and the books you read. Once you recognise the power of others to influence your life, you get good at controlling what you consume and who you surrender to.
We hear about win-win relationships in business all the time. Many of us practice it on a daily basis. We solve our clients' problems. We root for their success. So why not with our spouse? Why don't we treat our spouse like a client?
A few days ago, I received a big punch in the face, and once again, old feelings resurfaced. It's not as life-threatening this time around, but it's just as unsettling. It's that nausea you feel when you're hovering over a toilet bowl. So I find myself questioning things again. Where did I screw up? Did I screw up?
Whether you're a 16-year-old girl, a 39-year-old executive or a 62-year-old divorcee, your most persistent question is, "What's the meaning of life?" This is my list of 9 tenets that describe - for me, at least - the meaning of life.
We can't know everything in advance. We don't know how things will work out. However, it's the decisions you make – the things you say ‘yes‘ to and ‘no‘ to that determine the quality of your time on this planet.
