Topics Covered: Midlife crisis, running out of time in midlife, living your best life now, midlife women coaching, Top 100 list

Episode Summary:

You know that insatiable urgency you feel in your 40s and 50s — the sense that you’re running out of time and need to do all the things before it’s “too late”? You’re not imagining it. But here’s what host Laurie Reynoldson wants you to know:

In this raw and honest episode, Laurie shares the story that cracked her wide open — losing her dad at 66, just five months into his retirement — and the wake-up call that made her realize someday isn’t a strategy.

You’ll learn:

• Why so many high-achieving midlife women keep waiting for “someday”
• How deferring your dreams until the kids are grown or the mortgage is paid is the real crisis
• Why the passage of time hits different in midlife — and what to do with that clarity
• How Laurie’s Top 100 List is not a bucket list, but a living blueprint for your best life
• How adding physical challenges (like her three mountain marathons in three days!) helps her live her best life, not just dream about it
• Why putting in the reps now means you won’t wake up at 65 asking, “Who am I?”

One Big Takeaway:

Your Challenge This Week:

Write down one thing you’d put on your Top 100 — not a “bucket list” thing to do before you die, but a life list thing to do while you’re alive and becoming the woman you were always meant to be.

DM Laurie your Top 100 item — she wants to hear it!

Links & Resources:

✨ Join the waitlist for the next Gap Year cohort
✨ DM “GAP YEAR” or “TOP 100” to Laurie on Instagram: @schoolofmidlife

Share This Episode:

Know a woman who keeps postponing her life for “someday”? Send this episode to her. We’re done waiting. Now is the time.

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👉 CONNECT WITH LAURIE:
📩 Email Laurie

💻 Website

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🎙️ Show Notes

It’s Independence Day week — but we’re not just talking about parades, bunting, and flag cakes here. In this episode, we’re flipping the script on “freedom” and asking: What does independence mean for YOU right now in midlife?

Because let’s be honest — the world feels heavy right now. Freedoms and rights feel under threat. And while we can’t control every headline, we can take radical responsibility for what we’re no longer available for in our own lives.

In this bold, heartfelt episode, Laurie gets real about:

• The messy state of freedom in America right now (no, you’re not imagining it)
• Why midlife is the moment to declare independence from roles, rules, and work that no longer fit
• How you can break free from people-pleasing, old identities, burnout, and that exhausting “someday” lie
• The 4 biggest areas midlife women need to reclaim freedom — starting now

You’ll walk away feeling inspired, clear, and ready to ask: What do I need to declare independence from this year?

What You’ll Learn

• Why “performing success” leaves you feeling empty — and what to do instead
• The invisible roles (Fixer, Overachiever, Peacekeeper, Julie McCoy) that keep you stuck
• How to release guilt for wanting more
• The difference between “freedom from” and “freedom to”
• How living your best life boldly gives other women permission to do the same

Links & Resources

• DM “INDEPENDENCE” to @schoolofmidlife or email Laurie here to share what you’re declaring freedom from this year
• Want to join the Best Life Retreat and step away to get clear on your next chapter? Grab your spot here (only 8 spots available!)
• Share this episode with another midlife woman who’s done tolerating and ready to become more herself than ever before

📩 JOIN MY MAILING LIST
https://www.schoolofmidlife.com/newsletter

👉 CONNECT WITH LAURIE:
📩 Email Laurie

💻 Website

On Instagram

On LinkedIn

Work with Laurie

In this episode: midlife identity shift, feeling stuck, women over 40, personal reinvention, high-achieving women

✨ Show Notes:

You’ve unraveled the roles. You’ve let go of the hustle. You’ve stopped performing.

Now what?

In this raw, grounding episode of The School of Midlife, Laurie Reynoldson explores the space after the unraveling—when you’ve done the work to let go of who you’re not, but haven’t yet figured out who you really are.

If you’ve stopped being the overachiever, the people-pleaser, the approval-seeker—but feel lost in the in-between—this episode is for you.

💡 In This Episode:

• Why the midlife in-between space is wildly uncomfortable—and wildly necessary
• The myth of reinvention and why it can become just another performance
• What to do instead: a softer, sustainable way to reconnect with your real self
• The 3 most important questions to ask in midlife:
  ➤ What do you want?
  ➤ What does success mean to you?
  ➤ What does your best life actually look like?
• Why it’s OK (and necessary) to stay in the question before rushing to the answer
• A light intro to Human Design as a future tool to support identity alignment

🧭 Journal Prompts:

• What lights you up—even if it doesn’t make sense to anyone else?
• What drains you—mentally, physically, spiritually?
• What are you curious about—not good at, not known for, just curious?
• When did I first learn that being high-achieving made me valuable?
• What would I do differently if I trusted who I was becoming?

🔗 Links & Resources:

• 📩 DM “BECOMING” on Instagram or email with the same subject to explore coaching
• 🧳 Join the Best Life Retreat in Sun Valley (only 8 spots available!)
• 🎧 Listen to the two previous episodes in the “I Want to Feel Like Myself Again” series:
  • 120. Feeling "Off" in Midlife? Maybe You Were Never "That Woman" to Begin With
  • 119. Midlife Feels Off? It's Not Your Hormones--It's Something Deeper

📩 JOIN MY MAILING LIST
https://www.schoolofmidlife.com/newsletter

👉 CONNECT WITH LAURIE:
📩 Email Laurie

💻 Website

On Instagram

On LinkedIn

Work with Laurie