What happens when the life you've built starts to feel disconnected from the person you're becoming?

At some point in our 40s or 50s, a question begins to surface: Is this really it? We’ve played the roles, built the career, supported the family, stayed the course. But at some point, the math stops adding up. That was true for me in 2025. And as I talked with others this year, clients, friends, and guests on The Midlife Remix, I realized just how many of us are navigating the same issue. This year, I wanted to step back to reflect. To look closely at what shifted for me,

In midlife, many of us begin to feel a tension between seeking comfort and security—staying with what we know and what feels predictable in our work and lives. Another part of us desires growth and change, not just for novelty but to live and work more in line with who we truly want to be. What seems responsible is often simply what feels safe. The real challenge is recognizing when responsibility shifts from a genuine choice to a way of choosing security over alignment.

We’re living through a moment where the systems many of us relied on, work, institutions, routines, and expectations, feel less stable than they once did. The shift isn’t personal; it’s structural. Technology is accelerating everything, institutions are strained, and the traditional indicators of security no longer apply in the same way. People feel this in their careers, their identities, and the choices they’re being asked to make in midlife.

We spend our lives chasing success; climbing the corporate ladder, making more money, and proving ourselves. In midlife, we question what to do once we achieve it, or why we keep pursuing it when we haven’t.

If you're in your mid-40s or 50s, this moment may feel like an unraveling. The stock market is plummeting, chipping away at the nest egg you

“Some days you feel like you’ll have four competing offers. Other days you’re crying, convinced you’ll never work again.” – Raina Rusnak There’s something profoundly disorienting about losing your job. It disrupts your rhythm, your routine, and, often, your sense of identity. But here’s the thing — as hard as it is to believe in the moment, unemployment can also spur you to some of the most meaningful growth in your life. Recently, I spoke with Raina Rusnak — strategist, mou