A transitional period, between the ages of approximately 45 and 65, created by longevity patterns of the 21st century. Like adolescence, a term popularized by psychologist Stanley Hall, it is often accompanied by physical, emotional, social and economic changes.
I’ve spent most of my career listening to people at the midpoint of their lives, helping them make sense of where they are and where they’re going. The pattern is clear: everyone used the same language and expressed the same feelings. Even those with extraordinarily high achievement, report feeling lost, and as though something was missing from their lives.
You’re not alone. We live in a culture that believes anyone in midlife is on a slippery slope towards their demise. Birthday cards telegraph that the best years are behind us. Brands and companies target us with terms like anti-aging. Suddenly it feels as if our only choices are retreat or submission.
Yes, midlife can be a time of questioning many of our choices. But growth, clarity and fulfillment come with examining what changes are needed to live authentically and on purpose.
Did you know that happiness increases after age 50, particularly when it dips so low in our 40’s? No generation before us has had the potential to experience the benefits of increased longevity, sustained vitality and the capacity to consciously curate decades of a meaningful life.
Live, love and lead, better.
You want more than metrics. Turn added years into a life fully lived with Barbara’s science-informed Longevity Lifeplan™ and Seven Lifestyle Levers™ Assessment.
Midlife Fully Lived
Middlescence reframes this stage as fertile ground for clarity, connection, and meaning. Barbara helps you redesign roles and rhythms that fit your life now and beyond.
Whole-life Coaching
Work with a certified coach, caring truth-teller and accountability advocate. You’ll set clear priorities, cultivate your energy reservoir, and make values-aligned decisions.
We’re living longer and tracking more—but too often, we’re missing what makes those years matter. In this powerful TEDx talk, Barbara Waxman redefines longevity beyond lifespan and healthspan to introduce The Thirdspan™—the flourishing factor that transforms a long life into a fully lived one. Drawing from science, stories, and wisdom, she reveals how mindset, joy, purpose, and connection are not luxuries but measurable multipliers of health and vitality. This is longevity’s next frontier: not just more years in your life, but more life in your years.
Barbara deeply understands the complexity of midlife and better—life transitions, career pivots, and reinvention—not only from professional study but from lived experience. She recognizes what often hides beneath outward success: the pull between external validation and inner fulfillment, the drain of well-being burnout, and the questions that surface.
She meets people where they are and helps them move forward with clarity, resilience, sustained energy, and authentic joy.
At the forefront of redefining aging, midlife, longevity, and leadership, Barbara serves on the Advisory Council for the Stanford Center on Longevity, advises Stanford’s Lifestyle Medicine program, and is a resident faculty member at the Modern Elder Academy (MEA). Her insights have appeared on CBS This Morning, Thrive Global, and other major platforms, and her books, including The Middlescence Manifesto, have shaped cultural conversations about energy, aging, and purposeful living. Barbara guides people to design lives that are not just longer, but richer, more intentional, and profoundly fulfilling.
Chief Innovation and Community Design, Modern Elder Academy
CEO
CEO Modern Elder Academy & NYT Best Seller
Board Member
Former CEO, The Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House
Director Alumni Programs and Community Development Modern Elder Academy
Surrounded by rigid protocols and endless data, we’re burning out in the name of wellness. The Seven Lifestyle Levers Assessment™ cuts through the noise with a science-informed approach that reconnects you with your own wisdom and lived experience. It offers a personalized snapshot that empowers you to take a decisive step toward meaningful action.
Surrounded by rigid protocols and endless data, we’re burning out in the name of wellness. The Seven Lifestyle Levers Assessment™ cuts through the noise with a science-informed approach that reconnects you with your own wisdom and lived experience.
Evidence-informed and deeply human, Barbara’s monthly newsletter weaves longevity research with lived coaching experience.
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