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

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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
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👉 CONNECT WITH LAURIE:
📩 Email Laurie

💻 Website

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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
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👉 CONNECT WITH LAURIE:
📩 Email Laurie

💻 Website

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Work with Laurie

In this episode: midlife identity, high-achieving women, menopause mindset, real self, personal growth, Human Design

✨ Show Notes:

You’ve done the work: the workouts, the clean eating, the hormone balancing, the sleep, the water, the supplements—and maybe even some therapy and mindset shifts.

And yet… you still don’t feel like yourself.
Maybe it’s because the “you” you’ve always been wasn’t really you at all.

In this episode of The School of Midlife, Laurie Reynoldson gets deeply honest about the identity reckoning so many high-achieving women face in midlife—when they realize the persona they built to succeed might be misaligned with who they actually are.

She also introduces Human Design, the self-discovery tool she’ll soon be incorporating into her coaching practice to help women reconnect with their true selves—without all the conditioning, proving, and performing.

💡 In This Episode:

• The key difference between being high-achieving vs. high-performing
• Why success on paper often doesn’t feel like fulfillment in real life
• How societal and workplace conditioning shaped your persona
• Why midlife might be the first time you have the freedom—and clarity—to choose differently
• A powerful reframe: What if you’re not burned out—you’re just becoming someone new?
• An introduction to Human Design and how it supports identity clarity in midlife

📝 Journal Prompts:

• When did I first learn that being high-achieving made me valuable?
• What parts of me have I suppressed to succeed or fit in?
• What does alignment feel like in my body?
• What would I do differently if I trusted who I was becoming?

🔗 Links:

• 💫 Join the next Best Life Retreat in Sun Valley
• 💌 DM "BECOMING" on Instagram or email Laurie to start a coaching conversation

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

👉 CONNECT WITH LAURIE:
📩 Email Laurie

💻 Website

On Instagram

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Work with Laurie

Topics Covered: midlife identity crisis, menopause wellness, don’t feel like myself, hormone replacement, midlife coaching

✨ Show Notes:

You’ve cleaned up your eating, optimized your hormones, prioritized sleep, walked your miles, lifted heavy, and maybe even cut back on wine—and yet, you still don’t feel like yourself.

Sound familiar?

In this raw and revealing episode of The School of Midlife podcast, Laurie gets honest about the midlife disconnect no one is talking about—the one that shows up after you’ve dialed in your physical health but still feel out of sorts, misaligned, or just... flat.

If you’ve been doing everything “right” and still feel like a stranger in your own life, this episode is for you.

💡 What You’ll Learn:

• Why optimizing your body is not enough to feel like yourself again
• The hidden cost of chasing someone else’s definition of success
• How unaddressed identity shifts and inner misalignment show up in midlife
• Why more HRT, steps, or self-care isn’t the solution if the inside is off
• Three foundational questions that can reconnect you with who you really are now

🔁 Share This Episode:

If this spoke to you, please send it to a midlife woman in your life who’s also “done everything right” but still doesn’t feel right. Midlife doesn’t have to feel like a breakdown. It can be your biggest breakthrough—when you know where to look.

📌 Resources:

• DM HELP on Instagram to learn about midlife coaching or the Gap Year program
• Or send “HELP” in the subject line via email to Laurie to start the conversation
• Want to DIY it? Start with these 3 questions:
  1. What do you actually want?
  2. How do you define success now?
  3. What does your best life really look like?

📩 JOIN MY MAILING LIST
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👉 CONNECT WITH LAURIE:
📩 Email Laurie

💻 Website

On Instagram

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Work with Laurie

🎙️ Episode Summary

What even is midlife?

Is it a number? A demographic? A hormone crash? A slow fade into irrelevance? (Hard no on that last one.) In this episode, we’re digging into the truth about what midlife really is—and spoiler: it’s not what you’ve been told.

Laurie breaks down:

• Why midlife technically starts in your late 30s (yep, really!)
• Why it’s more about mindset than math
• And how midlife can actually be your most powerful season—if you’re brave enough to claim it.

You’ll also hear:

• A jaw-dropping Brené Brown quote that will stay with you for years
• Why the stereotypes about midlife women are total garbage
• Why the “someday” strategy is keeping you stuck
• And how to start making midlife your best life, not your “less than” life.

This episode isn’t just about defining midlife. It’s about redefining yourself.

What You’ll Learn

• Why midlife can start as early as 39—and last for decades
• The key internal questions that mark the start of midlife (not your age)
• How society’s stereotypes have robbed women of midlife power
• Why midlife is the start of something, not the end
• Three critical questions to ask if you’re ready to stop tolerating your life and start transforming it

Journal Prompts From This Episode

• What do you think about the term “midlife”?
• Do you believe you’re in midlife? Why or why not?
• How do you feel about that?

Because how you experience midlife starts with what you believe about it.

Links + Resources

• Want 1:1 support during your midlife reinvention? Get on the VIP interest list! DM the word “MIDLIFE” to @schoolofmidlife on Instagram, or email Laurie here to learn about The Gap Year

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

👉 CONNECT WITH LAURIE:
📩 Email Laurie

💻 Website

On Instagram

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Work with Laurie

After a week of ass-sitting on a tropical beach (highly recommended, by the way), I’m back and bringing you something different: my story. Not the polished “About Me” version—but the honest, messy, holy-shit-how-did-I-get-here version.

From panic attacks that landed me in the ER (twice) to leaving a successful 20-year legal career with no backup plan, I’m sharing how I went from burnout to building the School of Midlife®. I’ll tell you why I used to think I was just a “job whore,” how my dad’s death changed everything, and why I now take two vacations a year—on purpose.

But this isn’t just about me. It’s about you. If you’ve been living on autopilot, tolerating instead of thriving, or telling yourself “someday” will be the right time—this episode is your permission slip to want more. Because waiting isn’t a life strategy. But building a life that fits who you are now? That’s exactly the work we do here.

And heads up: the Gap Year is coming back soon—and for the first time ever, with a fully 1:1 coaching option. So if you’re ready to stop spinning your wheels and start living your best damn life, this is where it starts.

What You'll Learn:

• Why I left a thriving legal career without a backup plan
• The moment in the ER that should’ve changed everything (but didn’t… for 6 years)
• What my dad’s death taught me about the trap of “someday”
• How I finally defined success on my terms
• Why figuring out what you want, how you define success, and what your best life looks like is the only way to stop reliving the same year on repeat

Links + Resources:

• DM me “GAP YEAR” on Instagram: @schoolofmidlife or email me to get on the waitlist
• Learn more at: www.schoolofmidlife.com
• Share your takeaway with me: What’s one area of your life you’re done tolerating?

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

👉 CONNECT WITH LAURIE:
📩 Email Laurie

💻 Website

On Instagram

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Work with Laurie

This week, I’m recording… absolutely nothing! Best Life Laurie is officially OOO and fully planted on a tropical beach, indulging in some well-deserved “ass-sitting” (yep, that’s a technical term). So today, I’m sharing a listener favorite episode that’s more relevant than ever.

In this replay, we explore what it really means to create a life you don’t need to escape from—a life that doesn’t rely on vacations to feel good. I talk about Parkinson’s Law (a.k.a. why we always think we can do all the things before wheels up), how we fill our calendars with chaos, and why I’ve made it a non-negotiable to take two real vacations a year—one for adventure, and one for full-body rest.

You’ll learn why fulfillment can’t be deferred until “someday,” how to start building your Best Life right now (without burning it all down), and why that sticker in a ski-town pizza joint just might be your new life motto.

What We Cover:

• What Best Life Me looks like (spoiler: she’s on the beach with a drink)
• Why two vacations a year is part of my success metric
• Parkinson’s Law and the midlife myth of “I can get it all done”
• How to stop living for the next break and start designing daily joy
• The power of boundaries, and why vacation shouldn’t include work emails
• Living your life now—not waiting until retirement, the next milestone, or a bigger 401(k)

If You’ve Ever Thought…

• “I’ll be happy when…”
• “There’s just not enough time for rest”
• “I can’t take a real break without the world falling apart”

…this episode is your warm, sandy permission slip to think again.

🔗 Links + Resources:

• Follow me on Instagram: @schoolofmidlife
• Learn more about the School of Midlife® coaching programs: www.schoolofmidlife.com

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

👉 CONNECT WITH LAURIE:
📩 Email Laurie

💻 Website

On Instagram

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Work with Laurie