10 Midlife Wake-Up Calls: Burnout, Identity Loss & Finding Purpose

What does a midlife crisis actually look like? Sometimes it's a heart attack you drive yourself to the hospital for, an award that feels like nothing once you finally hold it, or burnout that puts you on the kitchen floor.In this Midlife Remix compilation, I bring together the most honest moments from ten conversations about midlife reinvention — career change after 50, burnout recovery, identity loss, loneliness, and what it takes to stop pretending and live more intentionally.Every person in this episode built a career most of us would envy. And every one of them hit a point where the life they'd built stopped making sense. Nobody here tells you what to do. It's ten people describing the point where they stopped pretending, and what they did after. I put it together because I don't think this question should have to wait for an emergency.I'm Steven Miyao, executive coach and founder of Coaching Metta, and this is Midlife Remix — the podcast for high performers rethinking success, purpose, and what comes next in the second half of life.FEATURING: Mike Ma — founder of Sidecut Ventures, formerly head of digital innovation at Bank of America Joel Hempel — founder of Fernweh Guided Expeditions, after 28 years on Wall Street Thomas Droge — physician and Chief Mindfulness Officer at Tiffin Simon Verhoeven — award-winning German filmmaker João Perre Viana — founder of the Walking Mentorship Brittanni Hendricks — leadership coach and author of It's My Turn Molly Carroll — therapist and founder of Cracking Open Erin Collins — executive recruiter and founding partner at Human Capital Acquisition Jack Swift — former Janus Henderson executive and CEO of TiffinCHAPTERS: 00:00 What a midlife crisis really looks like 00:54 Mike Ma: leaving Bank of America — "you just fly in planes and swear at people" 01:34 Turning 50: the wake-up call 02:17 Joel Hempel: losing his parents, his marriage, and his job of 28 years — "corporate heroin" 03:02 Thomas Droge: a heart attack at midlife — "do I want to be doing this right now?" 03:39 Simon Verhoeven: winning a German Film Award and feeling nothing 04:29 Redefining success and choosing the right ambition 05:08 João Perre Viana: identity crisis after leaving corporate life 06:10 Why career transitions take longer than you expect 06:42 Brittanni Hendricks: authenticity, code-switching, and fitting in at work 07:46 ADHD as a superpower 08:12 Why high performers get passed over for promotion 09:11 Molly Carroll: burnout, collapse, and the loneliness epidemic 11:09 How to stay connected: water the plants 11:44 Why me time isn't selfish — advice for leaders 12:54 Fear, control, and Alan Watts 13:32 When your routines stop working 14:19 Faith vs. belief 14:58 Simon: losing his father while filming 16:23 Erin Collins: intuition, asking for signs, and the white butterflies 18:04 Living aligned with your values 18:37 Jack Swift: gut feelings vs. thoughts — leading by sensing, not knowing 21:36 Finding work you'd do for free (and why AI makes it urgent) 22:31 Letting go of your old identity 22:42 Life is a book you can't page back throughConnect with me: Website: https://www.coachingmetta.com#MidlifeRemix #StevenMiyao #MidlifeCrisis #CareerChange #Burnout #Reinvention #PersonalGrowth #Over50