Messy Midlife: It’s Not A Crisis, It’s A Calling to Connect
You’ve followed the rules, collected the job titles, relationships, and responsibilities… and somehow ended up in the messy middle thinking, “Hang on, who am I and when did my life start running me?”
Welcome to Messy Midlife: It’s Not A Crisis, It’s A Calling to Connect – The Nine Principles of Authentic Living. This podcast is for humans roughly 35–65 who look “sorted” from the outside but feel lost, burnt out, overwhelmed, or one passive-aggressive email away from screaming into a pillow.
I’m Jody – midlife coach, former corporate burnout, child of chaos, and someone who has done the full midlife plot twist: breakdown, identity crisis, six-stone weight loss, and putting type 2 diabetes into remission while rebuilding a life that actually fits. I created the Nine Principles of Authentic Living – Awareness, Understanding, Trust, Honesty, Empowerment, Nurture, Transformation, Integrity, and Compassion – and this show is where we apply them to real, messy lives, not perfectly curated Instagram squares.
Each episode blends honest solo story-time from the “beautiful disaster” chapters of my own life with raw, funny, no-BS conversations with guests who are navigating midlife reinventions: careers, relationships, addiction, health, identity, and that quiet “Surely there’s more than this?” voice you keep trying to ignore. We’re not here for fluffy “think positive” platitudes; we’re here to name the hard stuff, laugh (sometimes inappropriately), and then actually do something about it.
If you’re ready to swap midlife crisis for midlife calling, reconnect with who you really are, and write a next chapter you don’t need to escape from, this is your invitation to connect, not perform. Listen on your walk, in the car, or hiding in the loo from your responsibilities – no judgement, just real talk, practical tools, and a whole lot of compassion for the glorious mess of being human in the middle.
Episodes
19 episodes
Midlife Reactions & Emotional Triggers: Why Did I Just Do That? Understanding the Runaway Bus
Have you ever snapped at someone you love, agreed to something you knew wasn't right for you, or shrunk yourself in a room where you should have taken up more space, and then stood there afterwards asking, why did I just do that? That single qu...
Midlife Reinvention After 40: Building a New Identity Before the Old One Ends, with Dr William Thomas
What do you do when the identity you have carried for twenty-one years is about to end, and the next chapter is a completely blank page? Most people wait until the page is thrust into their hands. Dr William Thomas started writing on it years b...
How to Trust Yourself Again in Midlife: Updating the Old Sat-Nav Inside Your Head
This is the episode where the sea mist clears. Not because you have suddenly worked everything out, but because you have spent a week noticing the runaway bus, meeting an extraordinary man on Wednesday who built a new identity on purpose, and n...
Understanding Midlife Reactions Where Does This Come From
Have you ever driven home from work, turning one moment over and over, asking, why did I do the exact thing I swore this morning I would not do? You saw it coming. You promised yourself. And you did it anyway. If you know that private sense of ...
Finding the Courage To Change & Say No To Resilience
What happens when the very qualities everyone praises you for are the same ones quietly taking you to the floor? This week's guest lived exactly that, and her story is Week Two of the Understanding season in living colour.Catherine Crest...
The Archaeology of Your Reactions: Carbon-Dating the Feeling
Friday is where we let the week settle. In this closer to Week Two, The Blocks, Jody Brooks gathers everything up- Catherine Crestani's story from Wednesday, the prediction machine from Monday, and one more careful step down into his own- and h...
Welcome to Messy Midlife: It’s Not a Crisis, It’s a Calling to Connect Official Trailer
Step into the messy middle of midlife and discover why it’s not a crisis, it’s a calling to connect.In this short trailer, you’ll hear what Messy Midlife is all about, who it’s for, and how it can support you if you’re feeling los...
The Moment I Knew Something Had To Change From Midlife Breakdown To New You Awareness
The Moment I Knew Something Had To Change: Why Midlife Isn't A Crisis S1 EP1Messy Midlife: It's Not A Crisis, It's A Calling To ConnectMidlife upheaval doesn’t have to be a crisis — it can be the moment you fin...
Midlife Burnout and the Nervous System: Learning to Lead Differently
Midlife Burnout and the Nervous System: Learning to Lead Differently S1 EP2Midlife burnout can change everything — your energy, memory, relationships, leadership, and the way you show up at home. In this episode of Messy Midlife, ...
Midlife Anxiety and Overwhelm: What Self-Awareness Is Really Telling You
Midlife Anxiety and Overwhelm: What Self-Awareness Is Really Telling You S1 EP3Midlife anxiety and overwhelm can feel like failure, but they may actually be signs that your life is asking for attention. In this episode of Messy Midlife, ...
Midlife Awareness: Navigating Disconnection to Connection
Midlife Awareness: Navigating Disconnection to Connection S1 EP4Something is off, and you can't quite put your finger on it. You're functioning, you're keeping it together, but underneath it all, you feel numb, irritable, exhauste...
Why Midlife Anxiety and Overwhelm Make Habits So Hard to Stick To
Why Midlife Anxiety and Overwhelm Make Habits So Hard to Stick To S1 EP5If you’ve been struggling with midlife anxiety, overwhelm, low motivation, or the feeling that you keep trying and failing at change, this episode is for you....
Awareness In Action: Four Questions To Stop Midlife Drift
Midlife Awareness: Navigating Disconnection to ConnectionSomething is off, and you can't quite put your finger on it. You're functioning, you're keeping it together, but underneath it all, you feel numb, irritable, exhausted, and ...
Start Your Day Without Losing Yourself: The Morning Awareness Practice
How to Start Your Day Without Losing Yourself: The Morning Awareness PracticeQuick question: what does your Morning actually look like?Not the aspirational version. The real one. The alarm, the scroll, the rush, ...
How Words Saved Me: Christoph Morrow on Addiction, Divorce and Finding Purpose
In this Midweek Deep Dive, Jody Brooks sits down with author and former US Navy veteran Kristof Morrow to explore how awareness, trauma and creativity intertwine in messy midlife. Kristof’s journey spans childhood abuse, violent addiction in th...
Why You Feel Empty at the End of the Day And What to Do Tonight: Evening Awareness Practice
Why You Feel Empty at the End of the Day And What to Do Tonight: Evening Awareness PracticeYou've been in the day. You've lived it, responded to it, felt it, even if you didn't stop to name any of it.Now it's quieter. And t...
Why You Feel Tired Even After Sleep. Returning To Yourself In Midlife
Practical coaching for midlife reinvention. There is a particular kind of tiredness that has nothing to do with sleep. You know the one. You have had your eight hours. You have ticked every box. And yet something in you is st...
Burnout Is Not The Price of Success — Redefining Career, Leadership & Midlife Transition with Nicole Anderson
A Guide for Midlife Leaders Who Know Something Has to ChangeWhat do you do when you've climbed the ladder, ticked all the boxes, and still feel empty — or worse, completely burnt out? In this powerful episode, Jody talks with Nico...
Awareness Isn't The End, It's The Beginning
Practical coaching for midlife reinvention.Twelve episodes ago, Jody stepped onto a bus she had never consciously chosen. Today we close the first principle of Messy Midlife with the whole of that journey gathered up in one place....
