Learning to Love Midlife Quotes

“We have a choice in how we tell our life story. We don’t write it in permanent ink. There are no points for consistency, or even accuracy. We can change it at any time, for any reason, including one as simple as making ourselves feel better. After all, a primary function of our life story is to allow us to place difficult experiences firmly in the past and take from them something beneficial that will allow us to thrive in the future. Only when that happens will we know our transition is complete.”
― Chip Conley, Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age

“Aging is an extraordinary process whereby you become the person you always should have been.”
― Chip Conley, Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age

“What most attempts to make sense of this trend overlook is the fact that in midlife, too many of us just don’t feel seen. We feel invisible at work. Anonymous to our neighbors. A stranger to friends or family, who still see us as we were twenty years ago. To be invisible is to be disconnected.”
― Chip Conley, Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age

“Understanding what you truly want will get you further in life than talent or hard work.”
― Chip Conley, Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age

“Gratitude without self-judgment: a prescription for a contented life.”
― Chip Conley, Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age

“For those with a growth mindset, success isn’t defined by winning but, instead, learning. A growth mindset facilitates seeking out, exploring, and enjoying new experiences. It is the antidote to midlife boredom.”
― Chip Conley, Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age

“If you play only games you can win, your sandbox gets smaller and smaller.”
― Chip Conley, Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age

“Research has shown that we grow more satisfied with life after age 50. And this isn’t just an American thing, as researchers have found this U-curve of happiness to be nearly universal across countries.”
― Chip Conley, Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age

“Midlife is when we start to realize that happiness does not consist of the gratification of our wishes. It is a choice made in the mind, not in the gym.”
― Chip Conley, Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age

“But, as we age, we also have to remember that time is our most precious resource and then ask Is the cost worth it?”
― Chip Conley, Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age

“When we resist a transition, we are actually resisting one or more of its three phases. We may resist letting go of the old; we may resist the confusion of the in-between liminal state (also known as the “messy middle”); or we may resist the uncertainties of a risky new beginning.”
― Chip Conley, Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age

“we are in the process of growing old, but we’re also growing whole.”
― Chip Conley, Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age

“Babies are not self-conscious when they learn to walk. Yet, as we age, our self-judgment and our ego-preservation rob us of all kinds of opportunities to be a neophyte.”
― Chip Conley, Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age

“The purpose of life is to discover your gift. The work of life is to develop it. The meaning of life is to give your gift away.”
― Chip Conley, Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age

“tips for not being triggered when I shouldn’t give a flying fuck: 1. I ask myself, “Over the course of my lifetime, how important is this?” 2. I spend less time on social media and refuse to “doom-scroll.” 3. I’ve stopped seeking a “permission slip” to do something I care about. 4. I feel comfortable saying no to more of the things that have historically felt obligatory.”
― Chip Conley, Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age

“Don’t give up at halftime.” Good advice for us all. How are you preparing for the second half of your adult life? If the first half was learning the rules, could the second half be about breaking them? And one of the key rules to break is the societal mindset that midlife is boring and uninspired. Break convention. Break habits. Break free!”
― Chip Conley, Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age

“as we age, we also have to remember that time is our most precious resource and then ask Is the cost worth it?”
― Chip Conley, Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age

“Philosopher Henry David Thoreau says that “the cost of a thing is the amount of… life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.”
― Chip Conley, Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age

“Rather than see my body as a vanity vehicle, the physical manifestation of my ego, I now see it as a trusted best friend. We’re not always in sync, but I assume the best intentions of my body, and it holds me accountable when I’ve neglected it. It is not a machine to be optimized, but instead a friend to be loved. What if your body isn’t at war with you? What if your body is your wisest teacher, guiding you to the truths you need to learn? Before going to bed each night, maybe you can ask your wise body, “How can you teach me to live a better life?”
― Chip Conley, Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age

“focus on improving ourselves instead of just proving ourselves.”
― Chip Conley, Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age

“MY job is to be grateful for MY life, for the things I have.”
― Chip Conley, Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age

“She rejected the values that society imposed on her without her permission, and now she says, “I am an invisible woman. What a relief!”
― Chip Conley, Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age

“create a life that’s as deep and meaningful as it is long.”
― Chip Conley, Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age

“Our extra longevity means we’re not old longer but in midlife longer.”
― Chip Conley, Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age

“Joie de Vivre”
― Chip Conley, Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age

“As a society, it’s like we’ve won the longevity lotto, but we just haven’t figured out what to do with the winnings of a longer life. It became clear that the societal roadmap I’d been referencing in my life ran out around midlife. I was betwixt and between, at a crossroads that felt both exciting and full of possibility but also terrifying and full of the unknown.”
― Chip Conley, Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age

“Yale’s Dr. Becca Levy has shown that when we shift our perspective on aging from negative to positive, our health outcomes improve. Better balance, more openness to new experiences, better cognitive functioning, more satisfying sex life, and all kinds of other benefits. She’s also shown that we’re granted seven and a half years of additional life when we reframe our mindset on aging.”
― Chip Conley, Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age