Want to Feel Better in Midlife? Start With Just 1%

What if you didn’t need to reinvent your life to make it better? My guests this week are Ann and Sal, hosts of the 1% Happier and Healthier podcast, and their philosophy is wonderfully simple: instead of setting enormous goals that quickly become overwhelming, make small, achievable changes – just 1% at a time. And they know it works because they’ve done it themselves. After meeting as neighbours 25 years ago, Ann and Sal eventually found themselves training together at the gym. Eighteen months of gradual progress took them from small beginnings to completing a Hyrox doubles event – something Ann initially thought was completely beyond her. But their 1% philosophy reaches far beyond exercise. We talk about changing our relationship with alcohol as we get older, creating healthier boundaries around work, taking five minutes to stop and breathe, putting ourselves back onto our own priority list and recognising that sometimes the smallest pleasures – even drinking your morning tea from a favourite mug – can make everyday life feel a little better. Ann also talks candidly about the transition away from a business that had been central to her identity for many years, and the question so many of us encounter in midlife: if the roles that once defined me are changing, who am I now? We also discuss “preferment” rather than retirement, the importance of continuing to stretch ourselves as we age, and Ann and Sal’s own unexpected adventure into podcasting. It’s a warm conversation about making change feel possible – without believing we have to change everything at once. Because perhaps the question isn’t “How do I transform my life?” Perhaps it’s simply: “What could I make 1% better?” Find Ann & Sal and the 1% Happier and Healthier podcast via their social channels, and on Apple Podcasts. And if you’re navigating your own next chapter, my book Ageing Wonderfully Well is an honest, hopeful guide to midlife and growing older: https://geni.us/AgeingWonderfullyWell Get full access to Midlife & Beyond with Jo Blackwell at joblackwellmidlifeandbeyond.substack.com/subscribe