{"id":194157,"date":"2026-07-07T10:40:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T15:40:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/?p=194157"},"modified":"2026-09-06T07:21:36","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T12:21:36","slug":"podcast-1124-beyond-midlife-myths-why-middle-age-can-be-your-prime-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-1124-beyond-midlife-myths-why-middle-age-can-be-your-prime-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Podcast #1,124: Beyond Midlife Myths \u2014 Why Middle Age Can Be Your Prime Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many of us grow up believing that midlife is when things start going downhill. Your body’s breaking down, your best work is behind you, and you may fall into a full-blown existential crisis. But a lot of what we think we know about midlife turns out to be based more on pop culture than actual research.<\/p>\n

My guest says the reality is much more encouraging. Her name is Margie Lachman. She’s a professor of psychology, the Director of the Lifespan Lab at Brandeis University, and the author of Primetime: A New Vision for Midlife<\/em><\/a>. Today on the show, Margie discusses what age range constitutes midlife \u2014 and how it’s not just a matter of chronological age \u2014 and whether people really become less happy and experience a midlife crisis during these years. She explains the surprising ways your mind continues to improve even as some abilities slow down, and why this stage of life often represents a peak combination of creativity and judgment. We also talk about the real challenges that come with midlife and how adopting the right mindset and habits can mitigate those downsides while helping you make the most of what Margie argues can truly be a sweet spot in life \u2014 a time when you still have much of your physical and mental vitality, and it’s coupled with seasoned experience and wisdom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many of us grow up believing that midlife is when things start going downhill. Your body’s breaking down, your best work is behind you, and you may fall into a full-blown existential crisis. But a lot of what we think we know about midlife turns out to be based more on pop culture than actual […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":194554,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[502,156,42388],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-194157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-character","category-podcast","category-self-improvement"],"featured_image_urls":{"large":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1124-5-538x280.png","medium_large":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1124-5-768x432.png","aom":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1124-5-372x230.png","reactor-320":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1124-5-320x180.png","reactor-640":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1124-5-640x360.png"},"yoast_head":"\nPodcast #1,124: Beyond Midlife Myths \u2014 Why Middle Age Can Be Your Prime Time | The Art of Manliness<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Podcast #1,124: Beyond Midlife Myths \u2014 Why Middle Age Can Be Your Prime Time | The Art of Manliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Many of us grow up believing that midlife is when things start going downhill. Your body’s breaking down, your best work is behind you, and you may fall into a full-blown existential crisis. But a lot of what we think we know about midlife turns out to be based more on pop culture than actual […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-1124-beyond-midlife-myths-why-middle-age-can-be-your-prime-time\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Art of Manliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-07T15:40:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-06T12:21:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1124-5.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brett & Kate McKay\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brett & Kate McKay\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-1124-beyond-midlife-myths-why-middle-age-can-be-your-prime-time\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-1124-beyond-midlife-myths-why-middle-age-can-be-your-prime-time\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Brett & Kate McKay\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e4ed6cc1b40b6de48739267a953ef2b3\"},\"headline\":\"Podcast #1,124: Beyond Midlife Myths \u2014 Why Middle Age Can Be Your Prime Time\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-07T15:40:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-06T12:21:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-1124-beyond-midlife-myths-why-middle-age-can-be-your-prime-time\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":239,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-1124-beyond-midlife-myths-why-middle-age-can-be-your-prime-time\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1124-5.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Character\",\"Podcast\",\"Self-Improvement\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2026\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-1124-beyond-midlife-myths-why-middle-age-can-be-your-prime-time\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-1124-beyond-midlife-myths-why-middle-age-can-be-your-prime-time\\\/\",\"name\":\"Podcast #1,124: Beyond Midlife Myths \u2014 Why Middle Age Can Be Your Prime Time | The Art of Manliness\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-1124-beyond-midlife-myths-why-middle-age-can-be-your-prime-time\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-1124-beyond-midlife-myths-why-middle-age-can-be-your-prime-time\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1124-5.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-07T15:40:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-06T12:21:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e4ed6cc1b40b6de48739267a953ef2b3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-1124-beyond-midlife-myths-why-middle-age-can-be-your-prime-time\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-1124-beyond-midlife-myths-why-middle-age-can-be-your-prime-time\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-1124-beyond-midlife-myths-why-middle-age-can-be-your-prime-time\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1124-5.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1124-5.png\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-1124-beyond-midlife-myths-why-middle-age-can-be-your-prime-time\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Podcast #1,124: Beyond Midlife Myths \u2014 Why Middle Age Can Be Your Prime Time\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Art of Manliness\",\"description\":\"Men's Interest and Lifestyle\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e4ed6cc1b40b6de48739267a953ef2b3\",\"name\":\"Brett & Kate McKay\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Podcast #1,124: Beyond Midlife Myths \u2014 Why Middle Age Can Be Your Prime Time | The Art of Manliness","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Podcast #1,124: Beyond Midlife Myths \u2014 Why Middle Age Can Be Your Prime Time | The Art of Manliness","og_description":"Many of us grow up believing that midlife is when things start going downhill. Your body’s breaking down, your best work is behind you, and you may fall into a full-blown existential crisis. But a lot of what we think we know about midlife turns out to be based more on pop culture than actual […]","og_url":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-1124-beyond-midlife-myths-why-middle-age-can-be-your-prime-time\/","og_site_name":"The Art of Manliness","article_publisher":"http:\/\/facebook.com\/artofmanliness","article_published_time":"2026-07-07T15:40:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-09-06T12:21:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1124-5.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Brett & Kate McKay","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@artofmanliness","twitter_site":"@artofmanliness","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Brett & Kate McKay","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-1124-beyond-midlife-myths-why-middle-age-can-be-your-prime-time\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-1124-beyond-midlife-myths-why-middle-age-can-be-your-prime-time\/"},"author":{"name":"Brett & Kate McKay","@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e4ed6cc1b40b6de48739267a953ef2b3"},"headline":"Podcast #1,124: Beyond Midlife Myths \u2014 Why Middle Age Can Be Your Prime Time","datePublished":"2026-07-07T15:40:51+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-06T12:21:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-1124-beyond-midlife-myths-why-middle-age-can-be-your-prime-time\/"},"wordCount":239,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-1124-beyond-midlife-myths-why-middle-age-can-be-your-prime-time\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1124-5.png","articleSection":["Character","Podcast","Self-Improvement"],"inLanguage":"en-US","copyrightYear":"2026","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-1124-beyond-midlife-myths-why-middle-age-can-be-your-prime-time\/","url":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-1124-beyond-midlife-myths-why-middle-age-can-be-your-prime-time\/","name":"Podcast #1,124: Beyond Midlife Myths \u2014 Why Middle Age Can Be Your Prime Time | The Art of Manliness","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-1124-beyond-midlife-myths-why-middle-age-can-be-your-prime-time\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-1124-beyond-midlife-myths-why-middle-age-can-be-your-prime-time\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1124-5.png","datePublished":"2026-07-07T15:40:51+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-06T12:21:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e4ed6cc1b40b6de48739267a953ef2b3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-1124-beyond-midlife-myths-why-middle-age-can-be-your-prime-time\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-1124-beyond-midlife-myths-why-middle-age-can-be-your-prime-time\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-1124-beyond-midlife-myths-why-middle-age-can-be-your-prime-time\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1124-5.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1124-5.png","width":1280,"height":720},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-1124-beyond-midlife-myths-why-middle-age-can-be-your-prime-time\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Podcast #1,124: Beyond Midlife Myths \u2014 Why Middle Age Can Be Your Prime Time"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/","name":"The Art of Manliness","description":"Men's Interest and Lifestyle","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e4ed6cc1b40b6de48739267a953ef2b3","name":"Brett & Kate McKay","url":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194157\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}