If I was in charge, this is what I'd like to see happen to better support us all...

I was lucky enough to coach a group of amazing midlife women on a retreat in Menorca recently, and it gave me time to pause and reflect

'What would you do, if you were in charge?' I get asked this question a lot when I'm on panels and giving talks about the concept of reinvention in midlife. Because whilst the stats clearly show that midlife women are not being adequately served by the jobs market or within organisations, once we hit a certain age – and don't get me started on the recruitment process – we are in danger of locking ourselves in an echo chamber if all we do is pedal the negativity and meanwhile the system stays exactly the same.

So, for this blog post, I thought I would do what a politician might do – no, not twist the narrative – but set out what I would like to see happen within organisations to better support Gen X so that we might not see out the next 15-20 years of our career in burnout, feeling unfulfilled or, potentially worst of all, in a state of fear. Fear of redundancy, fear of financial strain, and that horrible, recurring fearful thought: 'Is this really all there is?'.

When I went through my own journey with burnout in 2022, it forced me to pause and look closely at the culture of 'achievement' we’ve normalised. It became the catalyst for writing my new bookThe PRO Method and shifting my career toward coaching and supporting women through midlife reinvention.

If I held the reins tomorrow, here are the three changes I would make to help our workplaces, healthcare systems, and children thrive.

Every manifesto has to start with a new notebook, if you ask me. I including journaling pages within my new book so you can get your thoughts and goals down on paper too – the science shows you're more likely to pull them off

1. Mandatory Rest & Recovery ('Thrive Time') Protocols in Workplaces

Chronic workplace stress is costing us deeply – not just in economic terms, but in our collective health and happiness. It can't be just me who has noticed that we have normalised living in a state of high alert, mistaking constant availability for productivity.

If I were in charge, I would require organisations to embed non-negotiable rest and recovery protocols.

This isn't just about offering wellness apps or spa vouchers; it’s about establishing clear, manageable boundaries around digital communication and scheduling mandatory 'Thrive Time' into the workweek. When employees are given structured permission to pause without guilt, they work more sustainably, think more creatively, and avoid the devastating cycle of exhaustion and burnout.

The ability to restore our energy and rest away from a screen should not be a reward for hard work – it is the fuel that makes sustainable work possible.

'Thrive Time' looks like a walk in the park to me. It is absolutely no coincidence that I have my BEST creative ideas when I'm outside in nature – not in a packed diary of back-to-back meetings

2. Comprehensive Midlife & Menopause Education Across Healthcare and Corporate Systems

In the UK today, midlife women – primarily Gen X – are being systematically let down by workplaces and healthcare systems unequipped to support them.

The figures speak for themselves:

• 1 in 10 women (10%) who worked during the menopause have left a job due to their symptoms (Fawcett Society).

• Two-thirds (67%) of working women aged 40–60 experiencing symptoms report that it negatively affects their work, yet 63% feel it remains an awkward topic to discuss with employers (CIPD).

• 14% of midlife women feel forced to reduce their hours or switch to part-time work simply to manage their health.

It is criminal that we are watching a hugely experienced midlife talent pool hide in plain sight, step back from leadership, or leave the workforce entirely at the very point when they have the most wisdom to share. My work seeks to redress this balance.

I would make comprehensive midlife and menopause education mandatory across all healthcare settings and corporate structures. By normalising this stage of life through open dialogue, flexible workplace adjustments, and informed medical care, we protect women's mental health and retain an irreplaceable wealth of talent, leadership, and expertise.

Better education, open conversations and peer-to-peer support are critical

3. Redefining 'Success' in the National Curriculum

This is a big one, and I am certain I'm not the only person who feels that our current education system needs an overhaul. From a very young age, the traditional education system ranks and compares children, inadvertently embedding perfectionism and a deep-seated fear of failure before they even reach adulthood. I would take a deep look at the National Curriculum to incorporate mental fitness, emotional regulation, self-compassion and storytelling into everyday learning.

We need to teach young people early on that:

• Failure is simply feedback, not a reflection of your worth.

• Your identity is fluid – you are allowed to evolve, change your mind, and reinvent yourself as you move through life.

• Self-trust matters far more than external validation.

I have gifted my PRO Method formula as a self-coaching tool to my children, and my previous non-fiction book Be Kind includes a very child-friendly section on self-compassion strategies. I would love to see schools equipping the next generation with these tools early, so we won't have to spend our adult years unlearning the belief that our worth is tied solely to our output.

Should I start running Reinvention Retreats for children? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

Raising children to be self-assured, resilient and aware of their mental fitness is such an important life skill I would love to see better integrated into the National Curriculum

Rewriting the Narrative

Reinvention doesn't just happen on an individual level – it happens when we choose to question the rules we've inherited and the systems we're asked to comply with. Whether in our daily work routines, how we approach our career, how we support women in midlife, or how we educate our children, real change starts when we give ourselves permission to do things differently; to retrain our brains to believe that it doesn't have to be this way; to see life through a new lens. What could be more energising?

As a special Autumn bonus, I'm pleased to let you know my Career Reset Masterclass, created especially for midlife women looking to pivot and for more purpose in your career, is on special offer for the next two weeks. Use the Voucher code AUTUMNRESET to get 50% off - that's £97.50 instead of £195 for a limited time. It's a self-paced coaching course you can work on quietly, to gain the clarity you're looking for. All my most useful coaching tools are in here.

Take me to the Masterclass

If you were in charge tomorrow, what is the thing you would change? I’d love to hear your thoughts - email me at hello@rosienixon.co.uk or comment on Instagram @rosiejnixon

Thanks for reading.

Love