The Gen X/Z Exchange: Navigating Career, Purpose & Modern Life Across Generations
Ever find yourself wondering why you aren’t happier, where your career is going, or why life suddenly feels uncertain — even when everything looks fine on paper?
If you’ve ever felt stuck, off-track, or unsure what comes next, you’re not alone.
The Gen X/Z Exchange is a life navigation podcast where a Gen X dad and his Gen Z daughter explore the biggest challenges facing modern life - from career direction and purpose to relationships, wellbeing, identity and the changing world of work.
Across generations but facing many of the same questions, Chris and Lily bring honest conversations and real-world perspective to the uncertainty so many people feel today. Chris has navigated layoffs, career pivots and the realities of midlife change, while Lily is figuring out early career decisions, identity and adulthood in a fast-changing world.
Together, they bridge generational perspectives to help you:
- make sense of career and life transitions
- navigate work and purpose in a changing economy
- improve relationships and wellbeing
- feel less alone in the challenges of modern life
These aren’t expert lectures or quick fixes. They’re candid conversations about figuring life out - together.
If you’re navigating a career change, questioning direction, dealing with midlife or quarterlife uncertainty, or simply trying to understand how life looks different across generations, this podcast is for you.
Follow us now and join a growing community learning how to navigate modern life - one honest conversation at a time.
The Gen X/Z Exchange: Navigating Career, Purpose & Modern Life Across Generations
Am I having a midlife/quarterlife crisis?
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Are you freaking out about what’s going on in your life? You may well be experiencing a very common transition in life. But don’t worry, it’s almost certainly not a crisis.
In this episode, you’ll get a better understanding of why you’re feeling this way.
If you’re Gen X, we unpick some of the myths about the stereotypical ‘midlife crisis’ and, if you’re Gen Z, we’ll look at the newer ‘quarterlife’ crisis.
You’ll learn:
- How the idea of the midlife crisis started and why it took off, even though there wasn’t much clinical evidence for it
- Two models for the quarterlife crisis and which type you might be experiencing
- Why it’s unlikely you’re experiencing a full-blown crisis
- What you can do about the way you’re feeling
You might be surprised by some of our conclusions - like the fact that, statistically, Gen Z are more likely to experience a crisis than Gen X. And it’s not just a human phenomenon: chimps and orangutans can have a ‘midlife crisis’ too!
We talk about our own experiences of coming to terms with feeling lost or dissatisfied and what we’ve found helpful in getting through it.
So if you’re confused about how you’re feeling, listen in and learn how you can make sense of it.
Hit play now.
3.30 Introduction to the quarterlife crisis
5.30 Introduction to the midlife crisis
9.25 Origins of the midlife crisis
11.20 The quarterlife crisis
13.00 Model 1 for the quarterlife crisis
15.30 Model 2 for the quarterlife crisis
21.00 The midlife crisis: myth or reality?
24.00 The midlife crisis - the biological or evolutionary reason
26.20 Why you might feel so empty and hollow in midlife
28.20 What might cause the quarterlife crisis
29.15 What might be changing about quarterlife/midlife patterns
30.30 What you can do to combat the quarterlife/midlife crisis
Connect with us:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisperkins172/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lily-perkins-8446a82bb/
The Gen X/Z Exchange is a UK podcast exploring career change, purpose, wellbeing and modern life through honest conversations between a Gen X dad and his Gen Z daughter - helping you navigate life’s transitions with perspective across generations.
Send us a voice message on Speakpipe!
https://www.speakpipe.com/thegenxzexchange
Connect with us:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisperkins172/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lily-perkins-8446a82bb/
