Midlife Isn't a Crisis—It's a Turning Point

We hear the word 'midlife' and immediately think 'crisis'. The sports car, the divorce, the panic that life is over.

But what if midlife isn't about falling apart, but about finally understanding what is important to you in life?

Over the past year on the podcast, I’ve spoken with people who’ve done precisely that. In this episode, I feature conversations with Larry Kihlstadius, Paul Hatch, Kim Mustin, and Mike Ma. They stopped pursuing someone else’s idea of success and started creating lives that match who they are now. These individuals are in transition, not because they failed, but because they listened to the fact that the status quo no longer fits.

Take Larry Kihlstadius, for example. For Larry, freedom isn’t about early retirement or sitting on a beach; it’s about time. Time to be present. Time to lead with trust. Time to raise thriving kids, not wealthy, not high achieving, just thriving. He reframed leadership not as control, but as creating the conditions for others to grow.

“You hire people qualified to do the job,” he said, “and then you let them bring their full agency to it. That’s how you build ownership.”

Or Paul Hatch, who grew up with a singular dream: to be a Navy pilot, like every man in his family. But when a failed eye test derailed his dream, Paul didn’t spiral out of despair; he pivoted.

“If you even think about what could have been,” he said, “you won’t make it.”

He shifted course and built something new, and later in life, walked away from global executive roles to become an entrepreneur, with no paycheck, no staff, but purpose. “Every day, I wake up and I’m happy,” he told me. “I’m not where I want to be yet, but I get to build something that matters to me.”

Kim Mustin, who found herself balancing an intense executive role while caring for aging parents and raising three kids. The wake-up call came during a business trip to South America. Her father called from the hospital. Her mother had suffered a stroke. At that moment, Kim understood that she needed to make a change.

“The way I was doing it was killing me,” she said. “It wasn’t about switching companies. It was about doing something radically different.”

Mike Ma spoke about how personal loss reshaped his understanding of time and success. After losing several loved ones in close succession, including his grandparents and close friends, he began to see time as something finite and non-negotiable.

“I’m here for a good time, not a long time.”

For Mike, success is no longer about outcomes or recognition; it’s about how he spends his time, who he spends it with, and whether he can help others in meaningful ways. He’s chosen a path that requires constant risk-taking, including raising a fund where rejection is routine. But he sees pressure as part of the privilege.

“There’s no guarantee of success,” he told me, “but that doesn’t mean you don’t keep showing up.”

These aren’t just stories about work. They’re about values. About redefining success not as a title or a salary, but as alignment between what you care about and how you spend your time.

So if you’re in midlife and feeling unsettled, that’s not failure. That’s your life inviting you to realign.

Questions worth asking:

• What version of success am I still chasing that no longer fits?

• What am I afraid to leave behind?

• Where in my life am I leading from a place of control rather than trust?

• What do I need more of—time, meaning, presence?

Thanks for being part of this first year. Here’s to whatever comes next.

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