Barbara Waxman MS, MPA, PCC

05/28/2026

How can you determine whether you are likely to be frail when you are older or even whether you might be on the road to frailty now?

I was surprised to learn that about 11% of people in their 50s already qualify as frail. By age 90 and above, that number rises to 51% –but it doesn’t have to.

Think about those two data points for a moment. They roughly correspond to two life stages I've spent my career studying and naming: Middlescence (the developmental stage from roughly 45 to 65) and the Trophy Years™ (the later decades most people are told to dread).

The article does something important: it tells you that frailty is preventable and that now is the best time to keep it in mind and design your plan.

Here is where I'd push the conversation further.

The article frames the goal as avoiding frailty. That keeps us in a scarcity mindset, organized around what we're trying to prevent rather than what we're designing toward.

What if the question wasn't "how do I avoid becoming frail?" but "how do I design a life where vitality is the throughline?"
Those are not the same question. And they lead to very different daily choices.

One practical starting point the research supports: grip strength. It is one of the most reliable indicators of overall vitality and a predictor of longevity. You don't need a lab. You need a hand dynamometer or even just awareness of whether opening jars, carrying groceries, or getting up from the floor is getting harder. That's data.

Strength training and adequate protein aren't just about muscle. They're about maintaining the physical foundation that keeps every other dimension of your life accessible: your movement, your independence, your ability to show up for the people and purposes that matter to you.

This is one of the Seven Lifestyle Levers™ I work with, and it's the one that quietly underlies all the others. Movement is the lever that keeps every other lever functioning.

Frailty is not a destination. It's a trajectory you can redirect, starting now, in your Middlescence, for the sake of your Trophy Years™.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/11/well/frailty-aging.html

Nearly half of older adults are at risk.

05/23/2026

This month, Chip Conley and the Modern Elder Academy hit a milestone: 100 episodes of the Midlife Chrysalis podcast, with nearly 2 million downloads.

Chip released his personal top 20 episodes to mark the occasion, and I'm grateful to be on that list alongside people I deeply admire. He also noted something that stopped me for a moment: that I'm MEA's longest-serving guest faculty member.

That distinction means a great deal to me. MEA has been a home for the work I care most about, helping adults live life a better, design lives that aren't just longer, but richer, more purposeful, and fully lived.

Our episode covers Middlescence, the role of mindset in longevity, lifestyle medicine, and why the question isn't how long you'll live, but why you want to live that long. It's one of the most listened-to episodes of the show, and I think the conversation holds up.

If you haven't heard it yet, I'd love for you to listen in. And when you do, tell me: what landed for you? I'm always curious what resonates most.

https://www.meawisdom.com/podcast/barbara-waxman-how-to-flourish-and-find-purpose-in-midlife/

05/22/2026

Do you know the #1 predictor of successful aging? It's not genetics, exercise, or supplements.

Yale researchers followed 11,000+ adults over 12 years. The strongest predictor of improved cognitive and physical function is your beliefs about aging.

And your relationships. Harvard's longest-running study on human development, spanning 85+ years, found one factor matters most: the quality of your relationships predicts both how long and how well you live.

Your mindset. Your relationships. These aren't soft variables. They're biological ones.

Are you ready to design your longevity? Join me and at this June in Santa Fe for the Designing Longevity workshop. Link in bio.

05/07/2026

Monday was one of those days that remind you why this work matters.

I had the privilege of speaking at Healthy Aging 2026, a full-day conference hosted by The Longevity Project and Stanford Lifestyle Medicine. The theme: Aging with Purpose, Power, and Play.

I joined a panel on "The Role of Connection, Attitudes, and Mindset in Healthy Aging" with JoAnne Moore of Corebridge Financial and Ken Stern of The Longevity Project as moderator. We talked about something I come back to again and again in my work: that the way you think about aging, the relationships you invest in, and the mindset you bring to this chapter of life are not peripheral concerns. They are central to your health and longevity. The research is clear on this.

The day spanned everything from the physiology of staying strong across the lifespan (Dr. Stacy Sims was remarkable) to the science of play and joy in later life (Kerry Burnight and Mia Sundstrom brought energy and evidence in equal measure). Alia Crum's session on mindsets and how they make us strong was a standout.

What I took away, and what I hope everyone in the room felt too: longevity is not just about living longer. It is about designing a life that makes the years ahead worth having. That is what I call Longevity by Design, and it is the foundation of everything I do through my Longevity Lifeplan.

If you're thinking about what it means to live well in midlife and better, I'd love to hear what's on your mind.


Stanford Lifestyle Medicine

02/02/2026

As some of us wrap up Dry (or Damp) January and rethink our relationship with alcohol, here's something worth knowing:
If all American adults limited themselves to less than one drink per day, we could prevent an estimated 17,000 alcohol-related cancer deaths, according to H.H.S. research.

Simple, clear advice that empowers informed choices. How will you integrate this information to create your own sustainable protocol?🥂

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/16/health/alcohol-men-women.html

Federal officials working on the new dietary guidelines had considered limiting men to one drink daily. The final advice was only that everyone should drink less.

01/14/2026

We often talk about relationships as “nice to have.”

The science indicates something different. They are essential elements of your longevity.

A recent study found slower epigenetic aging and lower levels of chronic inflammation among those with strong relationships.

Connection wasn’t just associated with feeling better.

It was associated with slower cellular aging.

This matters because it challenges a narrow view of longevity that focuses almost exclusively on individual behaviors and biological optimization. Diet, movement, sleep, and biomarkers matter, but they don’t operate in a vacuum.

Our relationships shape our physiology.

This is one of the reasons I talk about the Thirdspan of longevity. Beyond lifespan (how long we live) and healthspan (how well our bodies function), there’s a third dimension that profoundly influences both: connection, purpose, meaning, and how fully we inhabit our lives.

Longevity isn’t only built in the gym or in the lab.

It’s built in conversations, community, belonging, and the feeling that you matter to someone else.

The question worth asking isn’t just What am I doing to live longer?

It’s also: Who am I doing life with—and how nourishing are those connections?

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666354625001541?ref=pdf_download&fr=RR-2&rr=9bde4ab918eec4c6

01/12/2026

If you've ever wondered why doing all the right things still feels heavy, this message is for you.

And, if you know someone who is quietly asking, "Is this all there is?"—I hope you'll share it with them. This conversation is meant to travel.

As we begin a new year, my hope isn't that you add more to your plate. You don't need to optimize harder. You need to flourish more intentionally.

For a long time, I unwittingly jumped on the geroscience bandwagon. I assumed that if we kept improving the science, better data, better tools, better protocols, the experience of living longer would feel better, too.

12/10/2025

I had the joy of joining Chip Conley on the Midlife Chrysalis Podcast to talk about what it really means to flourish in midlife and beyond.

If you’re in a season of reevaluating, reinventing, or simply wanting to live with more purpose and vitality, I’d love for you to listen.

https://www.meawisdom.com/podcast/barbara-waxman-how-to-flourish-and-find-purpose-in-midlife/

12/10/2025

Midlife isn’t a crisis. It’s an awakening—one of the most powerful chapters we get to shape with intention.

I had the joy of joining Chip Conley on the Midlife Chrysalis Podcast to talk about what it really means to flourish in midlife and beyond. We explored Middlescence as a stage of growth and renewal, why mindset plays a bigger role than genetics in our longevity, and how simple, personalized lifestyle practices help us live undiminished at every age.

I also shared one of my favorite tools, the Energy Audit, which can bring immediate clarity to where your energy is being spent and where it can be reclaimed.

If you’re in a season of reevaluating, reinventing, or simply wanting to live with more purpose and vitality, I’d love for you to listen.

https://www.meawisdom.com/podcast/barbara-waxman-how-to-flourish-and-find-purpose-in-midlife/

06/16/2025

I was wrong—optimization isn't always the answer. -

Over the past few months, I’ve been riding the waves of exciting momentum—the soft launch of the Longevity Lifeplan™, preparing to welcome our 4th grandchild(!), and the complexity of a home remodel. All good things, and yet… the exciting momentum tipped into something else: depletion. I fou...

06/10/2025

When optimization goes wrong. Five shifts that change everything for more space, joy and a sustainable way of being.-

Over the past few months, I’ve been riding the waves of exciting momentum—the soft launch of the Longevity Lifeplan™, preparing to welcome our 4th grandchild(!), and the complexity of a home remodel. All good things, and yet… the exciting momentum tipped into something else: depletion. I fou...