The New Midlife Crisis: No Sports Car Required

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I didn’t expect to find myself in the middle of a midlife work crisis but here we are.

And I’m not the only one.

If you’re from Southern Maine, you were probably a little surprised to see the news this morning that longtime radio host Lori Voornas is retiring after 32 years on the air. You’d be hard pressed to find a Mainer around here who hasn’t listened to Lori and Jeff (Parsons) on their way to work at some point in their lives.

So why leave a career most people would call wildly successful?

“I also am turning 60 this September,” she said, “and I thought long and hard about the last chapter of my life. It doesn’t include a 4 a.m. alarm clock.”
—Lori Voornas, News Center Maine

That hit home.

Because recently, I found myself asking some of the same questions, not about retirement, but about how I wanted my work to feel moving forward.

It started one Sunday evening. That old familiar weight pressed down as I looked toward Monday. The quiet dread coupled with the sudden desire to clean my junk drawer instead of face my calendar.

But this wasn’t about a job I hated.
It was about a business I had built from scratch.
On my terms. With intention.

And still… I didn’t want to show up for any of it.

That realization hit hard.

How had I managed to recreate the exact kind of work stress I thought I’d left behind?

The Real Midlife Crisis Is Happening at Work

We’ve all heard the clichés—midlife crisis equals a red sports car, questionable haircut, maybe a trip to Bali.
But that’s not what’s really happening for most of us.

What’s happening is much quieter.
It’s showing up as women in their 40s and 50s are looking around at their careers and realizing:

“I don’t want this anymore.”

And not because it’s bad.
Not because they’re failing.

Because it no longer fits.
They’ve outgrown it.
Maybe it never truly aligned to begin with.

That’s the real midlife work crisis; and no one warns you about it.

How We Accidentally Build the Wrong Thing

Here’s what I’ve learned: misaligned work doesn’t happen all at once.

It creeps in slowly, disguised as “being responsible,” “taking the next step,” or “doing what works.”

You say yes to projects that sound impressive even if something feels off.
You ignore the inner nudge because “this is what growth looks like.”
You build something that checks every box except the one labeled ‘feels right’.

That was me, launching a webinar that never felt exciting but seemed like what I was “supposed” to do.
It tanked. And I wasn’t even surprised.

Because deep down, I already knew.
I wasn’t doing work that aligned with who I am now.

Signs You’re in a Midlife Work Crisis

You don’t need a breakdown to know something’s off.
Sometimes the signals are subtle:

• You start dreading tasks you used to enjoy
• You feel detached from your own business or role
• You keep thinking, “I should be grateful… so why do I feel resentful?”
• You’re tired, not physically, but energetically drained by what used to feel normal

These aren’t signs that you’re lazy, failing, or even unmotivated.
They’re clues.
Clues that your relationship with work has shifted and your work hasn’t caught up yet.

What Fulfillment Actually Looks Like (Hint: It’s Not a Bigger To-Do List)

Fulfillment doesn’t mean perfect days or dream clients 24/7.

But it does mean:

• Waking up without that familiar knot in your stomach
• Having space to be yourself not just a brand or a service provider
• Doing work that doesn’t require constant self-abandonment
• Feeling like your work reflects who you’ve become, not who you were ten years ago

Fulfillment in midlife looks more like alignment and boundaries than it does hustle or reinvention.

And it often requires you to step back before you move forward.

How I Started to Untangle It

Once I admitted I was deep in a midlife work crisis, the next step was asking:

“What kind of energy am I bringing into my work and where is it coming from?”

That question led me to look at how often I was operating from survival mode.
Taking “safe” projects. Avoiding change. Doing things out of habit, not desire.

That’s exactly why I created the Work Energy Archetypes™ Quiz—to help others spot those patterns and shift them.

Because once you understand your current work energy, it’s a whole lot easier to shift toward something that fits.

Midlife Isn’t About Reinventing Yourself. It’s About Reclaiming Yourself

You don’t need to blow everything up.
You don’t need a new career overnight.

But if you’re feeling disconnected from the work you’ve built, or the job you’re still showing up for, you’re not alone.

The midlife work crisis is real.
But it’s also a chance to check in.
To ask better questions.
To realign instead of blindly pushing forward.

Because midlife isn’t the end of the story.
It’s the part where you stop playing someone else’s game.

And start writing your own.