Midlife is the Best Season of Our Lives
Midlife is the best season of our lives, but often many of us like fulfillment in some area of our midlife. It doesn’t have to be that way. The Midlife Fulfilled podcast is a resource for people in a midlife season to discover ways to find fulfillment in some areas of life where you lack fulfillment. Midlife is very misunderstood, and that’s why I’m on a mission to rebrand the meaning of midlife. Join me on this journey to make midlife the most fulfilling season of your life.
If you’ve listened to the Midlife Fulfilled Podcast before you know that nearly all of my episodes have been me featuring someone in a midlife season who is sharing a BF to AF story. As a reminder, in case you don’t remember or you don’t know, BF means before fulfillment, and AF stands for after fulfillment. Most of my previous episodes have been BF to AF stories, and I’ve gotta tell you each one of those is inspiring and invigorating.
I’m inspired to rebrand midlife. If you listen to the podcast, you may have heard me say this before. First and foremost, midlife is NOT the midpoint of your life! I repeat midlife is NOT the midpoint of your life! There are three phases that we go through in our lifetime, and they are…
Our youth is up to about age 30, give or take. Then we go into many decades of midlife seasons that can actually take us into our eighties, and then we are likely to enter our end-of-life season.
I can recall entering my first midlife season in my early thirties, somewhere around age 32 or 33. It wasn’t about age, rather the circumstances that were unique to me. For a lot of us, our first midlife season happens in our thirties even though we don’t use the word midlife in that age range. There are some people that may even begin their first midlife season in their mid to late twenties based on their circumstances of responsibility and maturity. For most of us though, early midlife begins in our thirties.
The Three Phases of Midlife
There are three phases of midlife. The early phase of midlife is generally our thirties and forties, the mid-phase of midlife is generally our fifties and sixties, and the late phase of midlife is generally our seventies and eighties. Yes, you can be in a midlife season even in your seventies and eighties! Why? Because once again, midlife is NOT the midpoint of your life. Midlife is the biggest phase of life that spans multiple decades.
What Comes After Midlife?
After midlife comes our end-of-life season. Let’s look further at what constitutes our end-of-life season. It’s not considered a pleasant subject. You’ve probably heard that the death rate is 100%. That’s a joke. A bad joke…It’s not a morbid thought, it’s just reality. Everyone eventually will die. So, it’s simple, our end-of-life season generally is when we go into a decline in health, eventually leading to our passing away.
I’ve lost both my parents. While it was very sad to say goodbye to each of them, they were both in their nineties. They both began a decline in their health. In my mom’s case, she experienced about a one-year decline in her health before she passed away. My dad experienced about a three-year decline in health before he passed away.
Again, it was sad to say goodbye to each of them about two years apart, but it’s a reality for everyone. What’s important to understand about the end-of-life season is that it’s not necessarily driven by age. It’s when we begin a decline in health that results in death at any age.
Another important point to understand is that end of life comes after midlife. That may sound obvious but I say this because some people believe that midlife is driven purely by age, defined as age 40 to 65. I strongly disagree! That would imply that after age 60 we’re at the end-of-life season. No! I’m 65 and blessed to be healthy with a ton of energy and ambition. I won’t be at my end of life season until such time that my health begins to decline steadily. Of course, none of us can predict when that will happen.
So now that we understand that we have three phases in life; youth, midlife (the longest phase for most of us), and end of life consider this.
We Spend Most of Life Going through Midlife Seasons
This brings me to the 80/20 principle. About one year ago, I conducted a survey where 267 people answered seven questions. One of the questions that I asked pertained to their level of fulfillment. I asked respondents how fulfilled they are by selecting from three choices: are you totally fulfilled? not totally fulfilled? or not fulfilled at all? Seventy-eight percent (78%) of the respondents replied with not totally fulfilled. Nineteen percent (19%) surprisingly responded that they are totally fulfilled. I think the 19% are not necessarily being honest with themselves because it’s difficult to achieve 100% fulfillment. This would mean that everything in your life is perfect, your career, your health, your fitness condition, your relationships and your legacy.
This is why I always say at the end of each podcast episode that if you’re 80% fulfilled, you’re doing great. And if you look at the numbers on the survey, 78% say that they are not totally fulfilled, and 19% said that they are totally fulfilled. That’s pretty close to 80/20. I often refer to this 80/20 principle because it’s an important aspect of what we’re striving to achieve on a day-to-day basis as we chase after happiness, fulfillment, and joy in our life.
My Plans for the Midlife Fulfilled Podcast in 2023
In support of my mission to rebrand the meaning of midlife, here’s what I’m planning for 2023 with the Midlife Fulfilled Podcast. I will continue to deliver BF to AF stories. I’m targeting about half of the episodes to be focused BF to AF stories.
Another type of podcast episode that I will deliver in 2023 will be called Midlife Maximum. This is where I will feature an individual with proven expertise in one of these domains; Career, Health, Fitness, Relationships, or Legacy. These are subject matter experts who may have published books on one of these topics, or they deliver a service or even a product in one of these domains. I will feature them for education because all of us in our midlife seasons can learn across these categories and it can contribute to our own growth and fulfillment.
Another type of podcast episode that I’ll deliver in 2023 is where I interview prominent people. This will probably be the smallest percentage of all the interviews because I’m going after people who are very well known and in high demand. Some of them might be famous, meaning you might know them by name and maybe others not famous in terms of name recognition, but nonetheless, they’re prominent people within their area of expertise. I will invite them on the Midlife Fulfilled podcast and ask them to share their own perspective and their own experience in their midlife seasons.
In 2023 I also plan to pursue more brand collaboration content in what I call a docu-series. This is where I record a three-part or a four-part, or maybe a five-part series on a specific topic, sponsored by a brand with a spokesperson that co-hosts it with me. We won’t sell their stuff, rather we’re educating. For example, a five-part series on how to get and stay in shape in midlife. In that five-part series, each episode would be a specific aspect of getting and staying in shape in midlife.
I’m also planning events beginning with virtual events. I’ll invite a subject matter expert to speak on a topic on a webinar with a live audience that can ask the speaker questions. It will be a live event and it will be recorded as an episode.
I’ve also decided to begin offering career coaching in 2023. I’ve been asked if I provide coaching and I’ve politely declined these requests. This year, I’ll begin by offering career coaching, which is where I can add the most value. I’ll offer three packages, a two-week program, a four-week program, and a 12-week program. I have limited availability because I work full-time. So if this is something that interests you, get in touch with me to explore.
Purpose-Driven Midlife Fulfillment
As I’ve explained here, I’m on a mission to rebrand the meaning of midlife. I want people to embrace that midlife is the best phase of our life and that it has multiple seasons. I hope this post helps clarify it for you. If this message resonates with you, stay with me as I have a lot planned on this journey and I’ll be honored if you come along for the ride.
If you are not subscribed to get the Midlife Fulfilled newsletter every Monday with each week’s podcast episode, get signed up at the Midlife Fulfilled website here.
If you know someone who might enjoy the Midlife Fulfilled podcast, please share it with them. The more people we have on this midlife awakening journey, the more people can potentially find more fulfillment and joy in whatever midlife season they’re in.
My midlife friend, I will remind you that if you are 80% fulfilled, you’re doing great!
Feature Image by Omar Medina from Pixabay
