Midlife Isn’t a Crisis — It’s a Creation

Written By Oksana Skidan

PODCAST · EPISODE № 001

Listen to the full episode:

Midlife isn’t a crisis — it’s a creation.

In this opening episode, Dr. Oksana Skidan — Ukrainian-born, American-built — shares the personal story behind Create Your Midlife™ and the framework she calls The Midlife Method™.

You’ll hear how a former concert pianist, educator, wife, and mother reached her 50s, paused for the first time, and asked one powerful question: What’s next?
Instead of reinventing, she began creating — and turned that process into a movement for women redefining midlife on their own terms.

🧭 In This Episode:

  • Why midlife isn’t a crisis — and what it really is

  • The story behind The Midlife Method™

  • How to begin creating your next chapter right where you are

  • What to expect from the Create Your Midlife™ Podcast moving forward

Useful Resources:

Transcript:

Oksana Skidan (00:01.57)

Welcome to midlife. Midlife. Well, the word itself makes some women pause. For years, we've been told it's a transition, a crisis, a season to manage. But now, everywhere I look, I see midlife being described as the most powerful, authentic, incredible season of our lives. And I love that idea. I can absolutely relate to it. But I also find myself wondering.

If it's really that amazing, why do so many of us still feel uncertain, restless, a little invisible, wondering if the best years are behind us or still ahead? Well, what I've learned in my 51 years is that midlife is exactly all of it and none of it. It's only what you allow yourself to make of it. It's unstructured, free, messy, busy. Emotional, confusing, yes, and still beautifully unique, just like you, completely yours to shape.

I'm Dr. Oksana Skedan, writer, educator, speaker, and creator of The Midlife Method, a framework I first created for myself and now share with women who are ready to design their next chapter with confidence, purpose, and self-agency.

This is where we redefine what midlife can be, not as a chapter of crisis, but as a chapter of creation. For decades, I lived as a high achiever, a concert pianist, an immigrant, a mother, a wife, a woman building businesses and rebuilding her life more than once. Each chapter was driven by a vision of what I wanted or what I was ready to leave behind and move forward.

I moved in every possible direction and I moved fast. But then came time when I finally, just for a moment and ask myself a very honest question. What's next?

Oksana Skidan (02:05.016)

I liked my life. I didn't want to reinvent or transform anything. I had built everything I dreamed of. And yet that question kept echoing louder and louder. So I started looking for an answer. And as a lifelong learner, I did what I always do. I turned to books, programs, and master classes. To my surprise,

There's an entire industry build around midlife. I still couldn't find what I needed. So I gathered what I knew, trusted myself and started creating my own way forward. That decision changed everything. Not overnight, but it did change my life. And this podcast is where I share it with you every week.

We will explore what it really means to create your midlife, not by starting over, but by creating forward. How to do it right where you are, with everything you're already managing in just a few minutes a day. You'll hear me talk, share tools that work, and have conversations with women who are living proof that clarity, purpose, and creativity don't fade, they expand. They'll share their own secrets and the ways they figured out their own what's next.
I'll also share how the midlife method was born and how its five elements can help you bring more direction, energy, and power into every part of your day.

My promise? No cliches, no noise, no perfect morning talk. After all, I have Ukrainian blood and Ukrainian women are known not only for resilience and creativity, but also for being direct and a little forward. As my son likes to tell his friends, yes, my mom really did say that. Well, she's Ukrainian.

Oksana Skidan (04:27.456)

What I'll find here are real stories, practical wisdom, and tools you can actually use to create your life. One choice, one habit, one moment at a time. Even if you're in the car waiting for your almost grown child to finish practice. Even if you're cooking dinner for two or walking just to feel the air and remember who you are. Because that question, what's next, isn't a sign of crisis. It's a signal that you are ready. Ready to trust yourself, ready to move forward, ready to stop stopping.

Welcome to Create Your Midlife, the podcast by a woman for women creating their lives their way.

Loved this episode? Listen anywhere.
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Oksana Skidan