Start with what you love
Revisit activities you’ve loved over the years and name what you enjoyed in real moments of doing them.
Midlife
Midlife crisis, or the start of a new chapter?
A midlife crisis is a popular name, not a medical diagnosis, for a time in your 40s or 50s when you question your work, relationships or direction. At its heart is a useful question: what do I want the rest of my life to be about? You can answer it by looking at what already motivates you and choosing a long-term goal that matters to you.
PurposeLife’s eight-step purpose discovery program gives you a structured way to work through that question, with an AI coach to help you explore your answers.
What is a midlife crisis?
“Midlife crisis” is an everyday phrase for a period of questioning in middle age. It isn’t a diagnosis, and it looks different for everyone. For some people it’s restlessness at work. For others it follows a birthday, a loss, children leaving home or a sense that time is moving faster. The common thread is a fresh look at how you’re spending your life.
If what you’re feeling includes persistent low mood, anxiety or trouble getting through the day, talk to a doctor or a licensed mental health professional. PurposeLife is a purpose discovery program, not therapy.
“Is this all there is?”
“I’ve achieved what I set out to do. What now?”
“I want the next twenty years to count.”
Illustrative questions for reflection.
How do you turn midlife questions into a new direction?
Start with the question underneath them. Before deciding what to change, ask what you want your life to be about. Look at the activities you’ve loved, what you enjoyed about them and the strengths you bring. Then try one possibility in real life before you decide. That way, any change you make is built on what you’ve learned about yourself.
Why is midlife a good time to think about purpose?
By midlife you have decades of experience to learn from: work you enjoyed, people you helped, projects that held your attention. You also have years ahead to act on what you discover. That combination of experience and time makes midlife a strong starting point for finding a purpose and building toward it.
The eight-step purpose discovery program
How does the program help in midlife?
The same eight steps, from reflection to action, in four stages.
Understand yourself
See how you like to approach things and recognize your top five character strengths in your own examples.
Explore and try
Find possibilities that fit what drives you, at work, at home or in your community, and try one in real life.
Give your purpose a plan
Choose a long-term purposeful goal for the years ahead and build a road map with practical next steps.
89
adults aged 50 to 85 in a randomized controlled study
The research behind the method
What does the research show?
In a randomized controlled study of 89 adults aged 50 to 85 (Brackman, 2017, Australian Catholic University), adults who received the program developed a stronger sense of purpose than those who did not receive it during the study. The benefits were still present three months after the program ended.
Participants were assigned by chance: 46 received the program and 43 were offered it after the study. Gains showed on all five questionnaires about purpose, and on three of them, people who started with the least sense of purpose gained the most.
PurposeLife offers the same method to adults at any stage, including people in their 40s, with an AI coach to help you work through it.
Not ready to start? Get the short guide.
Get a short guide: the 8-step method, the research in plain English, and a first exercise you can do today.
How it differs from a general AI assistant
A purpose discovery program, with a coach to guide you.
ChatGPT and Claude can help you explore ideas. PurposeLife guides you through a complete, research-tested method for discovering your purpose.
Its coach draws on guidance developed from the research and experience with people who used earlier versions of the program. It helps you explore what motivates you, work through the exercises and turn what you discover into a long-term purposeful goal.
What will you have at the end?
A long-term purposeful goal you chose yourself and a plan to work toward it. Everything you write is saved, so you can return to it. Along the way you’ll build:
- A record of the activities you love and what you enjoy about them
- Your top five character strengths, with examples from your own life
- A shortlist of possibilities, and what you learned from trying one
- A road map with next steps, dates and people who can help
- Your purpose statement, in your own words, if you choose to write one
Who created PurposeLife
Who is behind the method?
Dr. Levi Brackman created PurposeLife. He started his working life as a rabbi and later became an entrepreneur in finance and technology, thinking carefully about his next purposeful step at each transition. He developed the method through a program to help young people discover their purpose. It became the subject of his doctoral research at Australian Catholic University, which also studied purpose in adults.
About Dr. Levi BrackmanWhere can you read more?
Articles
Common questions
Is a midlife crisis a real thing?
The phrase describes something people often recognize: a period of questioning in middle age. It isn’t a medical diagnosis. You don’t need a label to take the questions seriously, and you can use them to work out what you want next.
Is PurposeLife therapy?
No. PurposeLife is a purpose discovery program with an AI coach. It isn’t therapy or medical care. If you’re living with ongoing low mood, anxiety or distress, a doctor or licensed mental health professional is the right place to start.
How much time does the program take?
You work at your own pace. Some steps are reflection in the app; others ask you to talk to people or try something in everyday life. Your work is saved between visits, and you have 12 months of access.
What does it cost?
$149, paid once. That includes all eight steps, the AI coach and 12 months of access. There is no subscription, and you can cancel for a full refund within 14 days of purchase.
Is my work private?
Yes. Your reflections and coaching conversations are private to your account. You choose what to save, and you decide whether to share your purpose statement.
See pricing and refund details or email levi@purposelife.ai.
Want the short guide first?
Get a short guide: the 8-step method, the research in plain English, and a first exercise you can do today.
Your purpose starts with you
Discover what you want your life to be about.
Eight guided steps, based on a method tested in a randomized controlled study, with coaching from the start. Explore your motivations and turn what you discover into a purposeful goal.
From discovery to action
Complete program
$149 paid once
12 months of access, including your AI coach. No subscription.
Your saved work stays readable after access ends.
$149 USD total, including applicable tax.
- All eight steps, from reflection to a purposeful goal
- An AI coach built for purpose discovery, in every step
- Explore what drives the activities you love
- Your strengths, and a library of directions to explore
- Real-world exploration, your road map and purpose statement
- 12 months of access, with coaching included
14-day money-back guarantee. Cancel and refund from your account. How refunds work.
Your own experiences are the starting point
Give your purpose the attention it deserves.
Work through the program in your own time, with a specialist AI coach to help you explore what matters to you.
Look across the activities you love, recognize what motivates you, and choose a long-term purposeful goal. Then build a road map toward it.
Your work is saved between visits. You can start today and take the time you need to reflect.
Curious about where you are now? Our free six-question purpose check gives you a snapshot of your current sense of purpose.
Take the free purpose check