The Wobble Middle
Susannah de Jager & Patsy Day
Patsy and I launched TheWobbly Middle, a podcast and thought space, for women like us navigating their careers in midlife. After nearly 15 years in the same industry and a decade at the same company I found the idea of new roles or a whole new industry daunting and the path often unclear. When I spoke to friends, I realised we were all in the same boat. The Wobbly Middle is a companion to all those navigating this phase.
The Wobbly Middle Toolkit
Key truths to take us through “The Wobbly Middle” of our careers:
1. Don’t fall for the sunk cost fallacy.
“I’ve spent 15 years doing [fill in the blank]—I can’t start again from the bottom.” We are all going to live much longer. Life is too long not to try something new. Think about where you might be in 5-10 years and how you would feel looking back. Would you regret not starting now? I read a great line from Chip Conley, author of Learning to Love Midlife, who says we should start counting our lives from when we become adults, so from age 20, not 0. Imagine how differently you would feel about starting something new if you were “only” 20 years into a career that may last50 years. This perspective was really helpful for me.
2. The power of conversations.
Don’t put pressure on yourself to know everything before you start. Once you realise you want a change, allow yourself an undefined exploratory phase.Have conversations with friends, previous colleagues, and those who have your back. Ask them what they see as your strengths, and think about other paths and industries where you might apply them. Look deeply into what you enjoy, both in your career so far and in life more generally.
3. The experience trap!
If you talk to recruiters, choose them wisely, as they are often looking for an experience fit. There are some excellent firms out there with more innovative and skills-based approaches (see our interview with Helen Wright of 9-2-3 Jobs), but sadly, traditional recruitment is a placement game, and it is easier to place people in the roles they’ve done before. If you’re looking for a change, do your “bluesky thinking” with a carefully chosen few. The wrong conversations may lessen your confidence to step into a new domain. No one is going to tell you that you’re trained for something you haven’t done yet…
4. It might be the how and not the what.
Conversely, you may discover that you don’t want to change what you do.Often, we love what we do, but the structure or culture of our current roles no longer works for us. Luckily, we are in a time of innovation. Consider how you can continue doing what you love in a different setting or how you can make your existing work align better with your values.
5. Your nextstep may be a stepping stone.
Even with the above preparation, if you’ve been in the same job or out of one for a long time, stepping forward is rarely seamless. Accept that you may take a role or start an endeavour that turns out not to be the right one. Be gentle with your expectations—don’t let fear stop you. We’re not encouraging unnecessary risk, but realistically, it can be hard to know what will fit for the next chunk of your career and life. Remember, you will learn key things from every step you take.
Listen to TheWobbly Middle podcast, episodes released fortnightly, to hear more from amazing women who have navigated their own Wobbly Middles.
We have spoken to a midwife turned entrepreneur, a stay-at-home mum who became a competition-level food photographer, and a corporate lawyer who is about to appear on MasterChef:The Professionals. Their stories are full of honesty, humility, and golden nuggets that we can all apply when working out: What’s next? Like us, each of them has responded to different catalysts—children, redundancy, illness, or a change in values—but each story holds truths that can be applied by those of unfortunate enough to listen.
These amazing women have made me believe that anything is possible. It is a privilege to share their stories. We hope you find them as inspiring as we do.
Susannah & Patsy
Two women on a mission to reinvigorate midlife—The Wobbly Middle
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