From Midlife Crisis to Midlife Masterpiece

Reclaiming that Dream You Set Aside
 

You know my story because it's probably your story too. I had it all. The husband, the community, the bestselling book, the health, the travel photos that made everyone jealous. I was the poster child for "having my life together." So why was I crying in my car in a Target parking lot, wondering when success started feeling like a prison sentence?

Here's what nobody tells you about "having it all": sometimes it feels like having nothing that actually matters.

Then life decided to throw me a masterclass in falling apart. Divorce. Friends dying. Family dying. A pandemic that obliterated the business I'd spent years building. Suddenly, my carefully constructed life looked like a tornado had hit it. And you know what I did? What every high achiever does when life implodes.
 

I isolated. I convinced myself I was "fine." I doubled down and white-knuckled my way through every day, determined to figure it out alone because, dammit, I'm a survivor.
 

(Spoiler alert: That strategy works about as well as trying to perform surgery on yourself.)
 

My therapist asked me a question that stopped me cold: "What is it you actually want now?"
 

After a year of pretending I didn't know the answer, I finally got honest. I wanted to live in San Diego and chase sunsets instead of spreadsheets. I wanted to help midlifers like me feel the vavavoom! Of life again.
 

So at 51 I took the leap.
 

Moved to San Diego. Became a bestselling author (again). Started writing screenplays. Started helping people get their dream job, help doctors become artists, support millionaires who lost their way, lose weight, date, and fall in love. I started living like the main character of my own story, while helping others do the same. I didn’t do it alone. I always had a mentor or coach. Was it easy? Hell no. Was it worth it? Every single scary, beautiful minute.
 

Here's the thing I learned that changes everything:
 

Life isn't meant to be endured from the sidelines. It's meant to be played full-out on the field.

And if you're sitting there thinking, "That sounds nice, Dawn, but I'm too old/broke/tired/responsible for that kind of life," let me stop you right there.
 

I'm not just your coach. I'm your proof it's possible.
 

For over 20 years, I've helped midlife high achievers stop settling for "fine" and start building lives that actually feel good. Not perfect. Not Instagram-worthy. Just genuinely, deeply satisfying.
 

Because here's what I know to be true: Your dreams didn't expire when you hit 40. They've just been waiting for you to get brave enough to claim them.
 

The world needs what you have. Your experience. Your wisdom. Your fire.
 

The question isn't whether you can still chase your dreams.
 

The question is: How much longer are you going to make them wait?
 

And here's what I discovered: Midlife isn't where dreams go to die. It's where they come alive in ways you never imagined possible.