I'm recording this in January 2025.

There are monks walking for peace across the country right now. At the same time, we're watching institutions fracture, financial markets swing wildly, political chaos.

It feels like the ground is shifting under our feet.

A lot of people freeze. They wait for things to "go back to normal." They hold their breath, hoping someone else fixes it.

Here's what I've learned at 55, after building a business, surviving a pandemic that nearly destroyed it, and navigating constant economic uncertainty:

You can't control the chaos. You CAN control your purpose.

There's a Japanese concept called ikigai—"a reason for being."

• What do you LOVE?
• What are you GOOD at?
• What does the world NEED?
• What can you be PAID for?

Your ikigai lives where all four overlap. In midlife, especially in uncertain times, it's not abstract philosophy—it's the most practical, urgent question you'll ever ask yourself.

March 2020. COVID hit. My fitness studio sat empty. Revenue evaporating. I had to ask: "If this all goes away, who am I? What am I actually doing this for?"

That crisis forced me to reframe everything. The studio was PART of my ikigai, but not all of it. What I loved was helping people reclaim vitality. What I was good at was coaching and teaching. What the world needed was honest guidance on living well. What I could be paid for was expanding beyond one physical space.

I adapted. I survived. I evolved.

Now, launching this podcast at 55 in 2025 while the world feels uncertain? It's ikigai in action.

In this episode:

• What ikigai is and why it matters MORE in uncertain times
• The four circles framework: mapping what you love, what you're good at, what the world needs, what you can be paid for
• Why midlife is actually PERFECT for ikigai exploration (perspective, resources, courage, urgency)
• My COVID moment: when everything collapsed and I was forced to reassess
• Why now is the time to build skills, knowledge, and abilities that can't be taken away
• The "AND not OR" approach: you don't have to blow up your life to find purpose
• How to audit your current life against ikigai principles
• Small pivots vs. complete reinvention
• Legacy thinking: what do you want to matter when you're 85?
• Practical steps to move toward alignment this week

Truth bomb:

Jobs can disappear. Companies can fail. Markets can crash. Institutions can crumble.

Your SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE, ABILITIES? Those can't be taken from you.

This episode isn't about waiting for the world to stabilize. It's about building something YOU control—purpose, value, reason for being—even when everything else is shaking.

You can control:

• What you're learning
• What you're building
• What skills you're sharpening
• What value you're creating
• What purpose you're serving

The monks are walking for peace. Governments are creating chaos.

You can't control that, you can control THIS.

Your ikigai is waiting for you to claim it.

Music Credits

Doug Hanson; Electric Relaxation (cover) doughansonmusic@gmail.com

Kevin White; Frontin (cover) @Revkevwhite on IG

Emmanuel Yohan Lazarra; Jazz Relaxing Trumpet manulazzr@hotmail,it

Man, Listen is written and recorded by host Jamey Mixson, Fitness Professional, entrepreneur, and your everyday awesome guy who is living as proof that 55 can be your strongest, clearest, most powerful decade yet.

New Episodes Weekly. Subscribe on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and other podcast streaming services.

Contact: Instagram @theJamey, Facebook @Jameymixson, Email: mixsonfj@gmail.com

****don't for get to leave that review

I was watching Will Smith's National Geographic series "Pole to Pole" recently, and he said something that stopped me cold:

"I've had plenty of sex, money, and fame. That's not what this is about."

Here's a guy who's achieved everything society tells us will make us happy—and he's STILL out there, pursuing something. Still searching.

And it hit me: Happiness isn't a destination. It's not something you GET. It's something you PURSUE. And the pursuit changes as you evolve.

In this episode, we're talking about what happiness actually means when you've lived long enough to know that the checklist we were sold—the career, the house, the car, the status—doesn't deliver what we thought it would.

My journey: We've been kids, young adults, career-driven professionals. We've purchased homes, cars, taken cruises, bought some BS we don't always need. Now? Let's consolidate all that stuff and drill down to the goodness. The real, authentic, wrinkled-linen-shirt, sweat-stained truth about what makes life worth living.

What we cover in this episode:

• What we thought would make us happy (and why the checklist failed)
• The hedonic treadmill: why achievement and accumulation don't create lasting fulfillment
• The cultural rat race we're all running—and why I'm done with it
• My Route 66 bike journey: biking across the US to Venice Beach as a personal pursuit of happiness
• Why sunsets make me smile and bring tears to my eyes at the same time (priceless beauty that most people miss)
• The shift from chasing MORE to appreciating WHAT IS
• Buddhist principles of non-attachment: allowing space for others without derailing your own path
• What actually brings happiness: presence over productivity, experience over accumulation, connection over status
• Subtraction over addition: what you need to LET GO OF to be happy
• Practical happiness practices you can implement this week

I'm not theorizing about happiness—I'm living it. From the Hollywood dream to working as a chemist for Neutrogena while getting my MBA, to building my fitness studio, surviving COVID nearly destroying it, and launching this podcast at 55.

At some point, you stop chasing what you're SUPPOSED to want and start pursuing what actually brings you joy.

Happiness isn't found in accumulation. It's found in experience. In presence. In doing things that make you FEEL alive.

I'm generally a happy person. Warm. Caring. But not because life is perfect. Because I've learned what actually matters.

At the end of the day, happiness isn't something you find. It's something you create, every single day, through the choices you make and the things you prioritize.

So what are you pursuing?

Not what you think you should pursue. Not what looks good on Instagram. But what actually makes YOUR heart feel full.

Figure that out. And chase it. Hard.

If it resonates, share it with someone chasing the wrong things. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts. And do one thing this week that brings you genuine joy—not because it's productive, but because it makes you feel alive.

The Jamey!

MUSIC Credits: Vincent Franck find him on YouTube @framax67

Man, Listen is written and recorded by host Jamey Mixson, Fitness Professional, entrepreneur, and your everyday awesome guy who is living as proof that 55 can be your strongest, clearest, most powerful decade yet.

New Episodes Weekly. Subscribe on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and other podcast streaming services.

Contact: Instagram @theJamey, Facebook @Jameymixson, Email: mixsonfj@gmail.com

****don't for get to leave that review

I'm sitting here at 55, looking at my phone contacts. Hundreds of names. But the number of people I'd call a true friend - someone I could call at 2 AM, someone who actually knows me, I can count them on one hand.

For a long time, I thought something was wrong with me.

In this episode, we're talking about something nobody wants to admit: Friendships in midlife is hard. Really hard.

When you're young, friends are everywhere. But then life happens. You move. You build a career. You chase dreams. One day your realize: I don't have many friends anymore.

My story: I left home after high school for college in Raleigh, then to LA chasing the Hollywood dream, worked as a Chemist for Neutrogena while getting my MBA. Just like that, I'm nearly 3,000 miles from where I started. Now I'm in the Cleveland Ohio area with my family. Realizing I have way fewer tried and true friends than I expected.

What we are covering in this episode:

*Why friendship gets exponentially harder after 50

*The friendship paradox: being well liked/ respected, but still feeling lonely.

* Survivors' remorse: feeling guilty cause I "got out" and the self work to move past it

*Friendships I had to end. Our values no longer aligned. And why it hurt to do that.

*The cost of loneliness: health, mood, longevity

*What real friends look like: quality over quantity

*How to build and maintain healthy friendships

The episode is vulnerable, honest and real.

I don't have all the answers, still figuring it out for myself. I'd rather have a small number of true friends. I will be alone instead of bad company. Wisely invest time and effort in relationships that matter.

At the end of your day, what matters is who was there for you, who laughs with you, who struggled with you. and vice versa. This are friendships that last.

***This episode you are gonna wanna share. If it resonates, send it to someone who needs to hear it. Leave a review on Apple Podcast. Reach out to that one friend you've been meaning to call.

Follow me on Instagram @theJamey

Facebook/ TikTok @JameyMixson

MUSIC CREDITS:

Cherish the day: Justice Der/ www.justiceder.com

Linus & Lucy: Andrew DeSesa/ http://www.youtube.com/@AndrewDeSesa

Man, Listen is written and recorded by host Jamey Mixson, Fitness Professional, entrepreneur, and your everyday awesome guy who is living as proof that 55 can be your strongest, clearest, most powerful decade yet.

New Episodes Weekly. Subscribe on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and other podcast streaming services.

Contact: Instagram @theJamey, Facebook @Jameymixson, Email: mixsonfj@gmail.com

****don't for get to leave that review

I'm sitting in my car blasting Michael McDonald thinking "when did this happen? I grew up on hip hop - Run-DMC, Tribe Called Quest, the golden era. Now I'm outside appreciating yacht rock like it's high art.

Welcome to Episode 2 of Man, Listen, where we're diving into the bizarre, hilarious, and sometimes frustrating experiences of being Old YET NOT OLD.

You know the space I'm talking about: Old enough that everything has changed - music taste, footwear (goodbye Jordans, hello Hokas), relationship with technology, food, and definitely the club. But not old enough to be counted out, retired, or irrelevant.

In this episode, we cover:

*The cultural evolution: raised on hip hop to vibing to Yacht Rock

*The footwear journey: Converse - Adidas Top Tens - Jordans - Hokas (because my feet have an opinion now)

*Technology whiplash: From thinking calculators were genius to AI interpreting everything in seconds

*The food shift: Why I genuinely prefer clean, healthy food over junk now

*The club reality: Why I'd rather hear Earth, Wind, and Fire in my car than pay for bottle service

*The weird multi-generational attention you get at 55

*Why being old yet not old is actually a SUPERPOWER, not a limitation.

The episode is light, punchy, and real. If you've ever caught yourself saying "when did I become my parents" or realized you're prioritizing comfort over style and feeling zero shame about it - this one is for you.

You're not invisible. You're not irrelevant. You're in your POWER. Let's own it.

Tune in, laugh long and remember: Stay Vital. Stay curious and keep living MORE life.

Enjoyed this episode? Leave a review on Apple Podcast and any other streaming service.

Follow me on Facebook, IG, TikTok: Jamey Mixson

Man, Listen is written and recorded by host Jamey Mixson, Fitness Professional, entrepreneur, and your everyday awesome guy who is living as proof that 55 can be your strongest, clearest, most powerful decade yet.

New Episodes Weekly. Subscribe on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and other podcast streaming services.

Contact: Instagram @theJamey, Facebook @Jameymixson, Email: mixsonfj@gmail.com

****don't for get to leave that review

In this premiere episode, Jamey Mixson breaks down in real talk on midlife health and wellness. No gimmicks, no BS - just honest conversation about what changes after 50, the milestones that matter, and the non-negotiables for staying vital and strong.

From recovery and nutrition to strength training and sleep, this episode covers what you need to know NOW if you want to thrive in the second half of life. Whether you're already in great shape or just getting started, this is your roadmap.

Man, Listen is written and recorded by host Jamey Mixson, Fitness Professional, entrepreneur, and your everyday awesome guy who is living as proof that 55 can be your strongest, clearest, most powerful decade yet.

New Episodes Weekly. Subscribe on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and other podcast streaming services.

Contact: Instagram @theJamey, Facebook @Jameymixson, Email: mixsonfj@gmail.com

****don't for get to leave that review