Midrising Conversations · Episode 14
The 25 Rule: Life, Freedom & What’s Next
What if our lives really do unfold in chapters of roughly 25 years?
The first 25 are about growing up, learning and becoming independent. The next 25 can become a blur of careers, relationships, children, caring responsibilities and keeping everything moving.
In Episode 14, Gill is joined by publisher and corporate historian Jaqui Lane to explore her idea of The 25 Rule — and why reaching your third 25 years can bring a surprising return to freedom, curiosity and possibility, only this time with decades of experience behind you.
About this episode
Jaqui first started thinking about The 25 Rule when she reached her early 50s and realised something had shifted.
The first 25 years are largely about becoming ourselves. From roughly 25 to 50, life often fills up quickly: careers, relationships, children, mortgages, ageing parents, caring responsibilities and an enormous amount of ordinary life admin.
Then Jaqui noticed something interesting. In her 50s, she began to feel some of the energy and freedom she remembered from being 25 — except now she had the experience, confidence and perspective of the middle 25 years behind her.
Gill, who turned 50 last year, recognises the feeling immediately. Together they talk about what changes as the load begins to shift, why women can become braver and less impressionable with age, and how differently the next 25 years can look depending on what you actually want.
In this conversation
- Where Jaqui’s idea of The 25 Rule came from
- What shapes us during our first 25 years
- How social media, work and the changing job market are shaping younger women differently
- Why the years between 25 and 50 can carry such an enormous load
- Career, children, ageing parents and the “club sandwich” generation
- Why “buy help” was some of the best advice Jaqui ever received
- How our relationship with our children changes as they become more independent
- Why reaching 50 can bring a new sense of confidence, freedom and urgency
- Feeling some of the energy of 25 again, with decades more wisdom behind you
- Why one woman may want to build something enormous while another wants fewer responsibilities and a simpler life
- How self-publishing has changed who gets to share their stories and expertise
- Why taking some time to breathe before deciding what comes next might be one of the best things you can do
This episode is for you if…
You have reached your 40s, 50s or beyond and started wondering why this stage of life feels different.
Maybe you want to build something. Maybe you want fewer responsibilities. Maybe you are noticing how much of the previous 25 years was spent keeping everything moving for everyone else.
Or perhaps you simply have a growing sense that time matters differently now — and you want to be more deliberate about how you spend it.
The Midrising takeaway
Your next chapter might be bigger, bolder and more adventurous. It might be quieter, simpler and deliberately less complicated. The important question is: what do you actually want from your next 25 years?
About Jaqui Lane
Jaqui Lane has spent more than three decades helping people and organisations capture, shape and share their stories.
She is the founder of The Book Adviser and Global Stories and has worked extensively as a corporate historian, publisher and adviser to business leaders writing their own books.
Her work has given her a fascinating perspective on experience, accumulated knowledge and the stories people decide are worth preserving and sharing.
Thinking about your own next chapter?
You don't need to have the next 25 years mapped out.
If you have that restless feeling that something needs to change but you are not yet sure what, start with the free If You Feel Restless, Start Here guide.
About Midrising Conversations
Midrising Conversations is the podcast for women in the middle of everything. Usually hosted by Gill Townsend and Barbara Scalzi, with solo episodes and guests along the way, it is a place for honest conversations about midlife, work, health, relationships, identity, reinvention and all the things nobody really prepared us for.
No perfect answers. No pretending we have it all figured out. Just real conversations about what this next part of life might look like.
Keep listening
Catch up on more Midrising Conversations and join us each week as we talk our way through the messy, funny and occasionally ridiculous reality of midlife.
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