School of Midlife

Laurie Reynoldson
  • 4.9 (42)
  • Self-Improvement
  • Weekly

This is the podcast for high-achieving women in midlife who want to make midlife their best life.   Women who have worked their entire lives, whether that’s in a traditional career or as the CEO of their household, or for many women, both. And they look around at their life in midlife, and think “I’ve worked my ass off for this?”  They have everything they always thought they ever wanted, but for some reason, it feels like something is missing. This is the podcast for midlife women who are experiencing all sorts of physical changes in their bodies, while navigating changes in every other part of their lives, too: friendships, family life, work life. This is the podcast for midlife women who find themselves wide-awake at 2.00am, asking themselves big questions like “what do I want?” “is it too late for me?”, and “what’s my legacy beyond my family and my work?” Each week, we’re answering these questions and more at the School of Midlife. When it comes to midlife, there are a lot of people talking about menopause and having a midlife crisis. This isn’t one of those podcasts. While we may occasionally talk about the menopausal transition, but that’s not our focus. Because we believe that midlife is so much more than menopause. And it’s certainly not a crisis.At the School of Midlife, we’re looking to make midlife our best life.

  1. Oct 27

    195. Who Takes Care of You? Loneliness, Friendship + Letting People In at Midlife

    Why so many high-achieving women feel lonely in full lives…and what it takes to actually let people in. Laurie is in France, doing something she's wanted to do for years. A language immersion school, then a retreat in Paris. It's her best life, no question. And last week, she sent a text to a couple of friends back home: When I'm back, I want to go to dinner. Because I really miss my people. That text opened up a bigger conversation. Laurie should have a huge circle of friends. Women from elementary school. Sorority sisters. Instead, she has a lot of acquaintances and very few friends…because for most of her life, she didn't invest in female friendship. Nobody ever showed her how. This episode is about loneliness in midlife, the kind that hides inside a full calendar. It's about why so many of us learned the caretaking but never learned the friendship. And it's about the hardest part of being in community: not the giving, but finally letting someone help you. What we cover: The text Laurie sent from France…and why you can do the thing you've waited years to do and still miss your peopleHow you can be surrounded by people, in a big city, and still feel lonelyWhy Laurie should have a huge circle of friends, and doesn'tThe three women who've known her since childhood: there when her brother died, when her parents divorced, when her dad diedWatching sorority sisters celebrate their kids' graduations and weddings on social…from the outside, with no one to blame but herselfWhy it gets so much harder to make friends once you lose the built-in friend-making environments of school, work, and your kids' activitiesBeing raised to see other women as competitionWhy the strong women who mentored us modeled caregiving and career success…but rarely friendship"We learned the give and give and give at all costs. We didn't learn the friendship."The wedding-party choice that shows how easily long friendships drift in your 20s and 30sWhy a friend who'd drop everything to fly to you isn't the same as a friend you can have dinner with next TuesdayHow Laurie has more community now than she did living in a sorority houseThe turning point: realizing she could do it all on her own…and didn't want to anymoreWho takes care of you, like you take care of everyone else? (And why the honest answer is probably no one)The two reasons no one helps you, and one of them is youThe dishwasher test: are you actually letting people do the things you say you want them to do?The phone call after Laurie's dad died, a dumpster, and the call back that changed how she lets her friends show upWhy refusing help denies your friends the very thing you'd want if the roles were reversedWhy community isn't something you have to wait to be invited toWhat happens when women who've never met show up to a retreat on a ThursdayThis week's homework: send the textQuotable moments "Most high-achieving women aren't lonely because they don't have anyone around them. They're lonely because they've built lives where they do all the giving.""I didn't invest in female friendship because no one ever showed me how.""We learned the caretaking. We learned the selflessness. We learned the give and give and give at all costs. We didn't necessarily learn the friendship.""Sure, I am strong, I am capable, and I could do it on my own. But I don't want to.""It's one thing to say that you want people to help you, and it's an entirely other thing to actually let them do it.""Community isn't something you have to wait to be invited to.""I didn't wanna see more social media pictures of dinners or vacations that happened without me. I wanted to be in those rooms. So I created one.""I don't want small talk with you. I want to know what lights you up. What are you scared of? What haven't you admitted to anyone else?"Laurie's ask for this episode Send the text. Tell a friend you miss her, pick a date, and get something on the calendar. And if she doesn't listen to the podcast yet, share this episode with her. Resources + links mentioned BEST LIFE™ Retreats (including the Paris retreat) — 2027 dates coming soon!JOIN MY MAILING LISTCONNECT WITH LAURIE📩 JOIN MY MAILING LIST 👉 CONNECT WITH LAURIE: 📩  Email Laurie 💻 Website On Instagram On LinkedIn Schedule a call with Laurie

  2. Oct 20

    194. Time to Put the Books Down: Why Collecting Information Feels Like Progress (But Isn’t)

    Why collecting information feels like progress (and isn't), and what France is teaching Laurie about the only way to really know. Laurie Reynoldson brought three books with her to France. She's barely opened them. And that small, slightly guilty stack beside her bed got her thinking about the much bigger stack back home: a whole shelf of personal development books in her Boise office, color-coded, reread, underlined in a different color pen every time. For years, that shelf was the plan. If she just learned a little bit more, read one more book, added one more page to a pro/con list she'd been building for years, she'd finally figure it out. Sound familiar? This episode is about the difference between gathering information and actually doing the thing, and why so many accomplished women who make fast, confident calls at work give themselves unlimited time to "research" their own lives. With stories from her first job as a medical malpractice lawyer, Sully Sullenberger's landing on the Hudson, and a surprisingly tender lesson from living abroad, Laurie makes the case that clarity doesn't come before action. It comes from it. What we cover: The three books on Laurie's nightstand in France, and the color-coded shelf back home they made her think aboutLaurie's rereading trick: a different color pen every time, because you're a different person every time you read itWhy "I just need a little more information" was her MO for years (as a high achiever, people-pleaser + recovering perfectionist)The pro/con lists that go on for pages… and that she kept adding to for years at a timeWhy collecting information can feel like progress, but isn't"Learning more" as delay with better nomenclatureThe promotion you never put your name in for, and all the reasons that felt like factsWhy "I'm not ready yet" is usually indecision dressed up as researchThe question at the heart of the episode: why are we so decisive at work and so stuck at home?Deadlines, sales goals, maternity leaves: what forces us to decide at work, and why nothing forces us at home"If we stayed in the accumulation stage, we'd literally shut down the company"The woman who makes the call with 70% of the information… and has been researching a personal change for five yearsWhy she's never allowed herself to bring that decisive woman homeWhat Laurie learned about hindsight in her first job as a lawyer, defending doctors and hospitals in medical malpractice casesWhy a bad outcome doesn't mean a bad decisionSully, the simulator, and what happens when you take away what the pilots knew in advanceFrance as the experiment: testing a long-held vision of living part of the year abroadThe one thing Laurie learned for sure in France… and the part she never saw comingWhy it's okay to pivot, change your mind, or decide you want something else (but only once you're in motion)This week's challenge: one real step that isn't reading, listening, or asking for opinionsQuotable moments "You can only have hindsight if you actually do something.""Collecting information can feel like progress, but it isn't.""Learning more sounds responsible, it sounds reasonable, but it's really just delay in better nomenclature.""What you can't do is read about something and just dream it into existence.""If we stayed in the accumulation stage, we'd literally shut down the company.""They're not two different women. She already knows how to do this.""It's super easy to poke holes in anyone's reasoning when you already know how it ends.""You only get new underlines in that book if you actually go out and live some of the pages before you reread it."Laurie's challenge for this episode Think about what's on your shelf: the book you keep rereading, the Google Doc called "Someday," the dream you've been researching for years. This week, do one thing toward it that isn't reading, listening, adding to the pro/con list, or asking someone else what they think. One real step. It can be very, very small… as long as it gives you information you can only get by actually doing something. Resources + links mentioned BEST LIFE™ Mastermind: a year-long program starting January 2027; applications open soon. More at https://www.schoolofmidlife.comJOIN MY MAILING LIST (including Laurie's perspective on the protests in France) — https://www.schoolofmidlife.com/newsletterCONNECT WITH LAURIE: Email Laurie📩 JOIN MY MAILING LIST 👉 CONNECT WITH LAURIE: 📩  Email Laurie 💻 Website On Instagram On LinkedIn Schedule a call with Laurie

  3. Oct 6

    193. "I Could Never": Why Are You Still Asking Permission to Live Your Own Life?

    That's great for you...but I could never. What's really underneath that line, and why the answer is almost always permission. Laurie is recording from Bordeaux this week, a couple weeks into a two-month stretch in France that a lot of people have had a lot of feelings about. After the now-infamous Must Be Nice episode, she kept noticing a quieter cousin of that reaction. Not the backhanded compliment. The other one. "That's so great for you. But I could never." So she started asking the follow-up question nobody asks: why not? Not to challenge anyone or prove them wrong. Just genuinely curious. And after years of working with high-achieving women, she's pretty sure she knows the answer.  It's permission. We've been asking for it since we raised our hands to go to the bathroom in second grade, and somewhere along the way it became permission to pick a college, take a job, live in a city, go on a girls' trip, meet a friend for wine on a Thursday. This episode is about the difference between asking and deciding, why being polite and being a team player can still mean handing away your decision-making, and what it looks like to give yourself permission at every stage of coming back to yourself in midlife. What we cover: The "I could never" reaction, and why it's a close relative of "must be nice"Why Laurie's follow-up question (why not you?) isn't a challenge, it's genuine curiosityThe root cause behind "I could never" in most high-achieving women: permissionWhy some of us won't even let ourselves want the thing before we've built the list of reasons it's not for usFrom raising your hand to use the bathroom to asking if it's okay to take the job: how a lifetime of asking permission adds upThe girls' trip test: did you decide and declare, or did you check the calendar and clear it with everyone first?How we use scheduling and logistics to support a decision not to do the thingWhat the men in our lives do differently (spoiler: they make plans and inform us)"Is it okay if I go away for a long weekend?" vs. "I'm going on a trip these dates." Hear the difference?Why it doesn't have to be a big swing like two months in France; we deny ourselves permission for dinner with friendsTwo things can be true: you're being polite and a team player, and you're outsourcing your decisions"I could never" and "must be nice" as permission dressed up in different waysThe aha moment Laurie sees in coaching when women realize they've never just stated a preferenceWhat could be different if you stopped asking others what you should doA refresher on the Four Cs of coming back to yourself in midlife: curiosity, clarity, courage + confidenceWhere permission shows up in each of the Four Cs (it's not only courage)Permission to ask new questions, answer them honestly, and keep the answers to yourself until you're readyPermission to define success on your own terms for this season of lifePermission to dream some adult dreamsFlipping the script from "I could never" to "what if?" "Why not me?" "Why not now?"Quotable moments "It's great for someone else, but not for me. I could never do that.""Some of us aren't even allowing ourselves to want the thing.""If you really think about it, we've been asking for permission our whole lives; haven't we?""Oftentimes we use scheduling and logistics to support our decision not to do the thing.""They don't ask for permission; do they? They just make the plans and inform us.""Not only are you being polite and a team player, but you are also giving away your decision-making.""It's permission dressed up in different ways.""You have your own back, maybe for the first time ever.""Why are you waiting for someone else to give you permission to do it?"Resources + links mentioned The Must Be Nice episode of the School of Midlife podcastJOIN MY MAILING LISTCONNECT WITH LAURIE📩 JOIN MY MAILING LIST 👉 CONNECT WITH LAURIE: 📩  Email Laurie 💻 Website On Instagram On LinkedIn Schedule a call with Laurie

  4. Sep 30

    192. Your Mother-in-Law Passes Away on Monday. Your Flight Leaves on Wednesday. Now What?

    Rigidity or serendipity. Guardedness or openness. What Human Design taught Laurie about the week when things didn't go quite as planned. Your mother-in-law dies on Monday. You're supposed to get on a plane to France for nearly two months on Wednesday. A younger Laurie would have read that as a sign. Selfish to go. Time's not right. Clearly the universe is telling you to stay where you are. This time, she got on the plane… and in this episode (recorded from France, so forgive the audio), she explains why. It turns out that same week, the dominant energy frequencies in Human Design were the 46 and the 25: the Euphoria Explorer and the Accepting Priestess. They also happen to be two of the four frequencies that make up 80% of Laurie's own design. Coincidence? She's not sure she believes in coincidence anymore. This one gets a little woo-woo. It's also one of the most practical conversations about control, fear + the stories we tell ourselves about "the right time" that you'll hear this year. What we cover: Why there was no episode last week, and why presence with Mike mattered more than a self-imposed deadlineA tribute to Virginia: 93 and a half years, an incredible life, and a son who cared for her with real tendernessHuman Design, the Gene Keys + the I Ching: why gates, keys and frequencies are the same thing with different namesThe "core four": the four frequencies (out of 26) that make up 80% of your personality and what you're here to doLaurie's 11 and 12, and why her life's work literally requires her to stop generalizing and get specificWhy she's not for everyone… and why that's exactly how it's supposed to workEnergy frequencies as a "weather report" that surrounds all of us, whether or not they're in your chartThe 46, the Euphoria Explorer: seeing magic in the unexpectedRigidity: "It must happen in exactly this way. I need to know where this is going before I even begin."Why there's almost always more than one road from point A to point B (and what that means for your white knuckles on the steering wheel)Serendipity: letting go of the outcome and trusting you could never have planned the magicThe 25, the Accepting Priestess: loving what is, without faking itThe "I'll be happy when…" trap, and how we delay loving the life we're livingGuardedness: the walls we build so nothing can hurt usOpenness: letting the wound unwind into a higher destinyWhy you can feel your spouse's hard day before they say a word (yes, that's energy)"You can't have high frequency dreams for your life by operating at a low frequency."The moment of decision: what the old Laurie would have done, and what she did insteadStaying in the stands vs. getting in the arenaThis week's coaching question: where are you gripping the steering wheel too tightly?Quotable moments "The timing was never gonna be perfect. The timing was never gonna be right.""You don't have to hold the steering wheel so tightly.""You could never have planned the magic that could happen.""We delay our happiness, and we delay loving the life that we're currently living.""You can't have high frequency dreams for your life by operating at a low frequency.""Walls don't just go one way. Yeah, you can't get hurt, but you also can't feel the goodness.""You don't have to know how it's all gonna play out. You just have to be open to possibility. What's meant for you will find you."📩 JOIN MY MAILING LIST 👉 CONNECT WITH LAURIE: 📩  Email Laurie 💻 Website On Instagram On LinkedIn Schedule a call with Laurie

  5. Sep 15

    191. "Must Be Nice": What Women Actually Mean When They Say That

    Why "must be nice" says more about the person saying it than it does about you — and what it actually takes to build the life other people call lucky. Someone found out Laurie is going to France and said, "Must be nice." A week later, a different woman heard the exact same news and said, "Oh my God, that sounds amazing." Same information. Two totally different responses. In this episode, Laurie digs into that gap — why some women respond to another woman's choices with inspiration, and why others respond by building an airtight case for why it could never work for them. Along the way: the limiting beliefs that keep women small, the wildly different way men and women give themselves permission to want things (hello, husband's golf trip), and the real, unglamorous, five-years-in-the-making story of how this France trip actually happened. Spoiler: it wasn't luck. By the end, Laurie leaves you with one question to sit with — the next time you catch yourself building a case for why something can't happen for you, is it actually impossible? Or have you just not given yourself permission to want it yet? What we cover: The "must be nice" comment at a summer party — and the smirk that came with itThe dental hygienist who heard the exact same news and said, "Oh my God, that sounds amazing"Two types of women: the ones who see possibility, and the ones who shut an idea down before it ever gets the chance to growWhy "no time, no money, wrong season of life, too selfish, too late" is a script — not the truthThe limiting-beliefs idea Laurie can't shake: the more you argue for your limitations, the more you get to keep themWhy women weren't born into this pattern — we were trained into itThe husband's golf trip: how he announces it, doesn't ask permission, and never feels guilty about the kids' soccer cleatsHow women do it differently — checking the schedule, clearing it with a spouse, then still drowning in guilt over the moneyWhy "it's different if you're a man" isn't just a feeling — it's a pattern Laurie sees in her coaching practice every single dayThe truth about the France trip: five-plus years of researching schools, watching the timing fall apart, and choosing it again anywayWhat actually got in the way, year after year — Mike's parents' health, his father's passing, a move, a remodelWhy this trip isn't happening because the timing is perfect (it's not) — it's happening because Laurie decidedThe first time Laurie landed in France and realized it was a place she'd been homesick for her whole lifeWhy midlife is a dress rehearsal for your third act — and why you shouldn't wait for retirement to test-drive the life you wantWhat Laurie is actually doing on this trip: a month of language school, hosting the Paris retreat, then Frankfurt for a client workshopThe real test: does the romanticized "live part of the year in France" fantasy hold up in practice, or just in theoryThe challenge Laurie leaves you with: the next time you catch yourself building a case for why something can't happen for you, ask if it's actually impossible — or if you just haven't given yourself permission to want it yetQuotable moments "Two women, same information. One sees possibility, one shuts it down before it ever even gets a chance to be real.""The more you argue for your limitations, the more you get to keep them.""Whatever you believe is possible for yourself is actually what becomes possible.""He doesn't ask for permission. He just says, 'It's something we're gonna do.'""She isn't giving herself permission to want something different. She's letting her limiting beliefs keep her stuck.""Nothing about this trip is luck or circumstance. It's conscious. It's been a repeated choice to continue building towards it.""Is it actually impossible, or is it just something you haven't given yourself permission to want yet?"Resources + links mentioned JOIN MY MAILING LISTCONNECT WITH LAURIE📩 JOIN MY MAILING LIST 👉 CONNECT WITH LAURIE: 📩  Email Laurie 💻 Website On Instagram On LinkedIn Schedule a call with Laurie

  6. Sep 8

    190. One-on-One, Retreat, or Mastermind: Which Kind of Support Do You Actually Need? | Back to School - Ep. 5

    One-to-one coaching, BEST LIFE Retreats, and the BEST LIFE Mastermind — what each one actually is, who it's for, and the honest story of why one of them just got rescheduled. It's episode five in the Back to School of Midlife series, and Laurie is calling this one registration day. You've sat through a month of lectures — the coaching philosophy, the BEST LIFE framework, Learn/Earn/Yearn, the Four C's — and now it's time to actually look at the course catalog and figure out what you're signing up for. There are three ways to work with Laurie right now: one-to-one coaching, the BEST LIFE Retreats, and the BEST LIFE Mastermind. In this episode she breaks down exactly what each one is, who it's actually built for, and how to tell which one is right for you (hint: it's not a spreadsheet decision). And she doesn't dodge the elephant in the room — she also tells you exactly why the Mastermind, originally slated to launch in September, has a "rescheduled" sign taped to the door right now, and what changed. This is the most practical, least tactical episode of the series so far — less framework, more "here's literally how you'd work with me if you decided today." What we cover: Why Laurie is calling this episode "registration day" — and finally handing you the actual course catalog for working with herThe three ways to work with Laurie right now: one-to-one coaching, BEST LIFE Retreats, and the BEST LIFE MastermindWhy so many high-achieving women instinctively reach for 1:1 coaching first — and the fear (not the logic) that's usually driving itWho 1:1 coaching is actually built for: a woman who already knows the decision and needs support implementing it, on her own timelineWhy group coaching is Laurie's personal favorite way to be coached — and what she gets from listening to someone else get coachedWhat the BEST LIFE Retreats actually look like: 4-7 day immersive experiences, not a ballroom full of note-takingWhere the 2027 retreats are happening: Civana in Arizona, Sun Valley (the original BEST LIFE Retreat location), the Viceroy in Cabo, and ParisThe surprisingly common reason your body gets sick right when you finally clear space to focus on yourselfWhat you actually leave a retreat with: full clarity on your BEST LIFE, plus a real 5, 10, or 15-year planWhy a retreat alone isn't always enough — the gap Laurie kept watching her clients fall into once they got homeWhat the BEST LIFE Mastermind is: two in-person retreats plus monthly group coaching calls, including "hot seat" coachingThe honest, real-time story of why the Mastermind's original September 2026 launch got rescheduledWhy the original Tuesday–Friday retreat format didn't account for how much vacation time women already had booked for the yearThe new format: Thursday evening–Sunday morning retreats, cutting the time-off ask from eight days to one or twoWhy the container grew from a planned 9 months to a full 12, now starting January 2027, capped at 10 womenHow to actually know which of the three options is right for you — and why it's a body response, not a logic exerciseThis week's homework: noticing which option sparked something in you, and getting curious about whyQuotable moments "Sometimes the class you actually want has a sign taped to the door that says, 'Rescheduled.' Not canceled, just not today.""Anytime somebody tells me they just need to work harder, it just means that they're lacking clarity.""I mean, we've got our shit together, and we can turn it on when we need to.""It's a little shot in the arm, right? It's go in, get this shot of clarity, and then go home and implement it.""The time off math wasn't mathing, right?""Let's stop living the same week on repeat and start making choices that actually reflect who you are now.""There's no pressure and no pitch, just a real conversation about where you are and what might actually help."Homework assignment for this episode: Notice which of the three ways to work with her actually sparked something in you — not which one makes the most sense on paper, but which one you felt something about in your body. Write it down. You don't have to act on it yet — just get curious about why that one. → Send her an email → DM on Instagram → Book a no-pressure, no-pitch conversation with Laurie Resources + links mentioned BEST LIFE Mastermind — launching January 2027, applications/waitlist open nowJoin My Mailing LIstEmail Laurie📩 JOIN MY MAILING LIST 👉 CONNECT WITH LAURIE: 📩  Email Laurie 💻 Website On Instagram On LinkedIn Schedule a call with Laurie

  7. Sep 1

    189. The Four C's. Why Confidence Is Never the First Step | Back to School - Ep. 4

    Curiosity, Clarity, Courage, Confidence — the four phases every high-achieving woman moves through on her way back to herself, and why they only work in that order. This is episode four in the Back to School of Midlife series, and it's one that Laurie purposely saved. Not because it's the least important — because it's one of the most important, and if she'd led with it, you would have tuned out. Here's the setup: most of Laurie's clients arrive having already done the physical work of midlife. Hormones optimized. Sleep dialed in. Alcohol cut back. Steps logged, protein hit, strength training on the calendar. They're doing everything right. And they still don't feel like themselves. That's where the Four C's come in — the actual transformational arc underneath every coaching relationship Laurie has, whether her clients realize they're moving through it or not.  And one thing she definitely wants to correct: Confidence does not come before Courage. It's the other way around, and getting that order backwards is exactly what keeps so many capable women stuck. What we cover: Why Laurie deliberately waited until episode four to introduce the Four C's, even though it's the "30,000-foot view" of everything she doesThe exact moment most of her clients hit: feeling good physically, but still not feeling like themselvesWhy optimizing your health further isn't the fix — and how that instinct keeps women in a burnout loopThe four phases, in order: Curiosity, Clarity, Courage, ConfidenceWhy confidence does NOT come first — and what actually produces it (hint: it's the action itself)What Curiosity feels like: the big questions most women have never once asked themselves — What's next for me? What's my legacy? Who am I in this season?How every core identity — daughter, mother, wife, career woman — is shifting at the same time in midlife, and why that's what makes the disorientation so intenseWhy "what don't you want" is often an easier, more honest starting point than "what do you want"Why Laurie thinks the "what do you want" question really is that simple — just not easyWhere the word "Courage" actually comes from (it's not what you think), and what that means for the decision you're sitting withLaurie's own "calculated risk" stories: training for her first marathon having never run more than a 5K, hiking 15 laps of a mountain in 36 hours to match Everest's elevation gain, and leaving her law partnership in the middle of a recessionWhy Courage is a full-body "yes" in your heart, not certainty about how things will turn outWhat Confidence is actually for: staying the course once Courage gets you movingWhy you're not going to magically find more time in your schedule — and what has to come off it insteadThe pushback you should expect once you start changing, and why it usually comes from the people who love you mostThis week's homework: figuring out — honestly — which of the four C's you're actually in right nowQuotable moments "Confidence doesn't come first. Confidence actually comes from taking the action.""Courage means you're willing to take the first step in the direction of the life you want to live, not because you know it's going to work out, but because it means so much to you.""You can have everything you ever thought you ever wanted and still feel like there's something missing.""It starts and ends with: what do you want? Just because it's simple, though, doesn't mean it's easy.""Courage actually comes from the Latin word cor, meaning heart.""Your biggest cheerleaders are the ones who are gonna throw up the most walls because they like the old you.""People don't chase dreams to get what they already have.""We need to have the Confidence to continue on the path that our Courage put us on."Laurie's ask for this episode Figure out which of the four C's you're actually in right now — Curiosity, Clarity, Courage, or Confidence — and be honest about it, not aspirational. Then ask yourself how you feel about that, and what you're going to do about it. → Send her an email→ DM on InstagramResources + links mentioned Episode 1: Overview of the School of Midlife and the coaching Laurie providesEpisode 2: The BEST LIFE™ FrameworkEpisode 3: Learn, Earn, Yearn — the three phases of lifeJOIN MY MAILING LISTCONNECT WITH LAURIE📩 JOIN MY MAILING LIST 👉 CONNECT WITH LAURIE: 📩  Email Laurie 💻 Website On Instagram On LinkedIn Schedule a call with Laurie

  8. Aug 25

    188. 25 Years to Learn. 40 to Earn. 13 to Yearn...If You're Lucky | Back to School - Ep. 3

    25 years to learn. 40 years to earn. And if you're lucky — 13 years to yearn. Once you see that math, you can't unsee it. Session three of the Back to School (of Midlife) series. This week, Laurie lays out the three seasons of life — Learn, Earn, Yearn — on a simple timeline from zero to 80, using the average U.S. female life expectancy of 78.8 years as the anchor. The math is blunt: 25 years learning, 40 years earning, and only about 13 years left to yearn — and that's if you're lucky, since that number is actually decreasing, not increasing. She calls it one of the biggest grifts sold to high achievers: give your most vital, vibrant years to climbing the ladder, and get a shorter, less certain stretch at the end as your reward. She brings in Bill Perkins' Die With Zero and its health/time/money framing — good health and time but no money in the first third, health and money but no time in the second, and money and time but no guaranteed health in the third — to make the same point from a different angle. Then she tells the story of her Dad: retired on his 66th birthday after 48 years of work, moved back to Boise, had real, specific plans for retirement, and he never got the chance to live out those retirement dreams. The episode closes with this week's assignment: identify one thing you've been deferring to your "someday" Yearn season, and find a way to move it into your Earn season now — the same thing Laurie's doing with her own upcoming France trip. What we cover: The three seasons of life, laid out on a simple zero-to-80 timelineWhy the math changes once you use the real average life expectancy (78.8, and declining) instead of assuming a full "65 to 80"The "grift" framing — why trading your most vital years for a shorter, less certain retirement is a bad dealBill Perkins' Die With Zero and his health/time/money breakdown of the three phases of lifeWhy health is the one resource in that equation nobody can guarantee, no matter how well you planLaurie's dad's story — 48 years of work, five months of retirement, and the retirement dreams he never got toThe reframe: you don't have to wait for the Yearn season to start living like your life mattersA BEST LIFE Retreat client who moved up her own retirement date by five years after doing this workLaurie's own example: finally taking the France trip she's talked about for five years, instead of deferring it againThe "must be nice" reaction some women have when they hear about the trip — and why that reaction is worth examiningThis week's assignment: do your own version of the math, name one thing you've been deferring to "someday," and move it into your Earn season nowA preview of next week: the Curiosity, Clarity, Courage, Confidence framework — the actual mechanics of how this work happensQuotable moments "Once you see it laid out, you won't be able to unsee it.""I think this is one of the biggest grifts sold to high achievers.""Why should we spend forty to sixty hours a week at work during our most vital life years?""He got five months of his Yearn years. And when he died, so did every dream he'd put off.""You don't have to wait to the Yearn season to start living like the life you want matters.""You have to plan for your own dreams just like you do your kids' schedules and your work projects."Resources + links mentioned: Die With Zero by Bill PerkinsEpisode 187 — Attainable Is Overrated: Why "Wildest Dreams" Beat "Realistic Ones | Back to School - Ep. 2Episode 186 — Orientation Day: When Being a High-Achiever Isn't Enough | Back to School - Ep. 1CONNECT WITH LAURIE: Email Laurie or book a call 📩 JOIN MY MAILING LIST 👉 CONNECT WITH LAURIE: 📩  Email Laurie 💻 Website On Instagram On LinkedIn Schedule a call with Laurie

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This is the podcast for high-achieving women in midlife who want to make midlife their best life.   Women who have worked their entire lives, whether that’s in a traditional career or as the CEO of their household, or for many women, both. And they look around at their life in midlife, and think “I’ve worked my ass off for this?”  They have everything they always thought they ever wanted, but for some reason, it feels like something is missing. This is the podcast for midlife women who are experiencing all sorts of physical changes in their bodies, while navigating changes in every other part of their lives, too: friendships, family life, work life. This is the podcast for midlife women who find themselves wide-awake at 2.00am, asking themselves big questions like “what do I want?” “is it too late for me?”, and “what’s my legacy beyond my family and my work?” Each week, we’re answering these questions and more at the School of Midlife. When it comes to midlife, there are a lot of people talking about menopause and having a midlife crisis. This isn’t one of those podcasts. While we may occasionally talk about the menopausal transition, but that’s not our focus. Because we believe that midlife is so much more than menopause. And it’s certainly not a crisis.At the School of Midlife, we’re looking to make midlife our best life.

Information

  • Creator
    Laurie Reynoldson
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    197
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 School of Midlife
  • Show Website
    School of Midlife

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