The Better Half

Inspired by his own midlife reckoning, a seasoned entrepreneur founded the Modern Elder Academy to help others grow older with unfettered passion and purpose.

- CHIP CONLEY

It's impossible to be in midlife and not wonder how you got there. It's a question that inevitably comes with thinning hair and wrinkles that reveal passing time like tree rings. If you're curious and bold, you will eventually ask the more important question: Where is my life headed, and how will I find joy, purpose, and meaning in the next chapter of life?

The truth is, I'm 62 and still trying to figure it out.

Right now, I am dipping my toes and surfboard into the warm Pacific Ocean as I spy a whale thrusting its way out of the water. I am at home in Baja, Mexico, which happens to be the home of the Modern Elder Academy (MEA), which I cofounded five years ago as the world's first midlife wisdom school dedicated to helping midlifers reimagine and repurpose themselves.

Less than an hour ago, I asked our latest cohort of wisdom seekers (a.k.a.our "compadres") the same questions. They have come from all over the world to be here, and today was one of those magical days when smiles came easy and eyes opened wide as our midlifers realized they could shed old identities and become who they always wanted to be. That the best is yet to come.

It's a liberating feeling when you finally accept that you no longer have to define the second half of your life based on someone else's definition of success which also means you no longer have to define yourself by your achievements, image, status, or power.

Thousands of midlifers aged 28 to 88 (averaging 54) have walked through our doors (yes, we define midlife broadly). And every time someone makes this profound shift, it feels like we're witnessing it for the first time. At MEA, we call this the "Baja aha" moment-a flash of clarity or insight that awakens the spirit to what's possible.

As I smiled at the beauty of the day and hit the water with my surfboard, I still wondered how life had brought me to this moment.