What if the midlife crisis isn't a crisis at all?

We've all heard the phrases — the quarter-life crisis, the midlife crisis — and most of us picture the same thing: someone buying a sports car, blowing up their whole life overnight. For years, I rolled my eyes at the idea. My life was "normal"… until it wasn't.

In this solo episode, I get honest about the season that forced my own realization — losing my job, back-to-back surgeries, losing my dad, my brother's diagnosis — and how, somewhere in the middle of all of it, I finally understood I wasn't unhappy with my work. I was living my life on pause.

We get into the science that made me feel less alone: where the term "midlife crisis" even comes from, the U-shaped happiness curve, and the quietly powerful idea of languishing — that joyless, aimless, going-through-the-motions feeling that isn't depression and isn't burnout. I share the story of the woman who walked into my lobby with a vase of flowers, the question a friend asked that I couldn't answer, and what the regrets of the dying taught me about the life I was about to keep chasing.

My very first guest! I sit down with my friend Jim Wiegand, who spent more than twenty years climbing to the top of the finance world — all the way to CFO — and then walked away to open his own Discover Strength studio. We talk about how he knew it was time, how he made the leap with a family and a mortgage on the line, and then he gives a practical, no-excuses guide to why and how you should start strength training.

Episode 2 — You Are Not Your Job

We've quietly agreed, as a society, that what you do for money is the same thing as who you are — and this week Abby pushes back on that. Starting from the most ordinary question in the world ("So, what do you do?"), this episode makes the case that you are so much more than your job, and that it's completely okay for a job to be just a job — a means to fund a life you love. Abby walks through two signs worth listening to when a role no longer fits: the Sunday dread and the slow drain of motivation. She digs into the science of why those signals matter — including Self-Determination Theory and why intrinsically motivated people actually perform better and burn out less — and explains why the popular advice to "monetize your passion" or "just do what you're talented at" can quietly backfire. She closes with two honest questions to sit with this week: What would you do if no one was watching? What scares the hell out of you?

Key takeaways:

• A job doesn't have to be your dream to be worthwhile — the problem starts only when it prevents the life you actually want.
• Sunday dread and lost motivation are information, not character flaws.
• Turning something you love into a paycheck can quietly kill the love (the overjustification effect) — some things are meant to be loves, not livelihoods.
• You're allowed to change your mind about your career. Every role teaches you something — sometimes what you don't want.

Research referenced: Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan); Sunday Scaries surveys by Adobe, Zety & LinkedIn" —