Issue 55

MIDLIFE MALAISE

Do You Suffer from Impostor Syndrome?
Do you feel like a fake? Do you think you’re in over your head, despite your obvious success? Do you worry that it’s only a matter of time before everyone finds out you’re not as competent as they think you are? If so, you’re not alone.

Google the term “impostor syndrome” and you now get an explosion of results–proportional to the explosion of victims it allegedly claims. First coined in a 1978 study, the phenomenon is especially prevalent among successful, mid-career professionals.

See for yourself. Here are a few representative overviews from business publications:

Midlife Milestones Unmet
From TheHighCalling.org, this is a condensed conversation between a 41-year old and his spiritual director on performance versus potential. Beyond the nuggets of wisdom about work, midlife readers may also recognize a fellow traveler.

C.S. Lewis: How Satan Uses Midlife Monotony
If you’re not familiar with The Screwtape Letters, you have an extraordinary opportunity to gain new insight into how Satan may operate in our lives. The “Letters” are written from a senior devil to his apprentice, advising the young tempter how to lure people away from God. In this excerpt, from Chapter 28, Screwtape teaches his apprentice about our vulnerabilities and lack of perseverance during middle age.

The Midlife Question That Won’t Go Away: Who Am I?
Adapted from his profoundly influential book, Lost in the Middle: Midlife and the Grace of God, Pastor and Professor Paul David Tripp offers us some much-needed perspective about who we really are.

Character Collapse in Middle-Aged Men
Based on a study of 910 Christian men, here are some arresting results about how some guys in midlife struggle with just about everything that matters…and one time-honored solution.

Toolkit: Halftime — From Success to Significance

Halftime is the in-between season that occurs at about age 45, plus or minus a few years. It’s the time first described in the book, Halftime — the season of “now what?”

Halftime really marks the end of Life I and the beginning of this whole new second adult season that we’ve identified as Life II or the second half. Currently, the Halftime organization is the leading authority on creating a second half defined by joy, impact and balance. Here are some links: