How To Series – HOW TO REFRAME MIDLIFE WITH CHIP CONLEY: Becoming a “Wise Beginner” through Reframing Midlife as a Second Adulthood

Aug 6

How To Series – HOW TO REFRAME MIDLIFE WITH CHIP CONLEY: Becoming a “Wise Beginner” through Reframing Midlife as a Second Adulthood

In this episode of The PlayFull Podcast, Kristine Michie is joined by Chip Conley, author, hospitality pioneer, and founder of the Modern Elder Academy (MEA). Together, they explore treating your 40s, 50s, and 60s (and beyond) as the start of a vibrant "second adulthood." Chip reveals how pairing wisdom with a "wise beginner's" mind creates room for personal flourishing and impact. From navigating burnout to unlocking leadership through vulnerability, humor, and play, this conversation offers a roadmap for opening your aperture and redefining how we age, lead, and love life in the long haul.

Key Takeaways:

Midlife can be a time of profound flourishing when people intentionally harvest their wisdom and pair it with a beginner’s mind.
Curiosity, learning new things, and being willing to be a “kook” are strongly correlated with health and happiness later in life.
Play and imagination help leaders step out of overthinking and into a wider field of perception, which often leads to more innovative solutions.
Vulnerability from senior leaders is essential if teams are going to feel safe enough to play, experiment, and take creative risks together.
Sustainable social justice work depends on self-care, mutual care, humor, and the ability to reframe difficult seasons without bypassing the pain.
You don’t have to sacrifice joy to make a serious impact—play and fun are essential tools for waking up to your second adulthood.

"Getting used to the idea of trying something new and being curious are two of the 10 most correlated variables for people who are healthy and happy later in life." — Chip Conley

"For many of us, when we're really struggling with something… we sort of double down on our brain… and that doesn't usually work because it actually means you get more intensely focused on something, and sometimes you need to open the aperture." — Chip Conley
"Get out of the box you have created for yourself… play is a natural pathway to doing that, partly because it forces you to get out of your brain and to exercise other parts of yourself." — Chip Conley

Episode References:

The Midlife Chrysalis Podcast: https://www.meawisdom.com/podcast/
Sept 10-13 – MEA 3-Day Deep Dive on Play and Storytelling: https://www.meawisdom.com/workshop/the-power-of-play-unlock-your-story-purpose-for-whats-next-sept/

More About Chip Conley:

Chip Conley is on a midlife mission. After disrupting the hospitality industry twice, first as the founder of Joie de Vivre Hospitality, the second-largest operator of boutique hotels in the U.S., and then as Airbnb’s Head of Global Hospitality and Strategy, leading a worldwide revolution in travel, Conley co-founded MEA (Modern Elder Academy) in January 2018 in Baja California, Mexico. Inspired by his experience of intergenerational mentoring as a ‘modern elder’ at Airbnb, where his guidance was instrumental to the company’s extraordinary transformation from fast-growing start-up to the world’s most valuable hospitality brand, MEA is the world's first ‘midlife wisdom school’ and opened a campus in 2024 on a 2,600-acre regenerative horse ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Dedicated to reframing the concept of aging, MEA supports students to navigate midlife with a renewed sense of purpose and possibility. TIME magazine honored MEA as one of the 100 Greatest Places to Visit in 2024. A New York Times bestselling author, Conley has authored eight books, given three TED talks, has a daily Wisdom Well blog, and a weekly podcast, The Midlife Chrysalis, which has included a wide variety of guests from Maria Shriver to Arthur Brooks to Elizabeth Gilbert to Rich Roll.

Connect with Chip Conley:

Website: meawisdom.com

Social Media: @chipconley

Substack: chipconley.substack.com

Connect with Kristine:

The PlayFull Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-playfull-podcast-with-kristine-michie-bringing-fun/id1676838213?action=write-review

Website: https://www.impactfullinc.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/impactfull_inc

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristine-breese-michie/

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