Episode 209

It's Your Turn To Live a Larger Life with NPR's Alison Aubrey

Published on: 7th September, 2026

Have you hit a wall in midlife and started wondering if it's too late to build something bigger? This episode gives you concrete, science-backed practices for answering that question and reclaiming the life you actually want. Diana talks with NPR health correspondent Allison Aubrey, author of Your Turn: How to Create a Midlife You Love, about what it took for her to move from decades of striving and burnout toward something freer and more her own — from parts work that names the "striver" running the show, to turning a big dream into a realistic plan, to the strength training that keeps you capable and free as you age.

Listen and learn:

  • How IFS (parts work) can help you find the striver part driving your burnout — and make room for who you were before the world had expectations of you
  • The WOOP method for turning a big wish into a workable plan by naming the real obstacles in your way
  • Why dream incubation is backed by real science, not superstition — and how to try it tonight
  • The "nine lives" exercise: a two-minute writing prompt that reveals what you actually want, underneath what you think you should want

Listen to the full conversation now — and if it speaks to you, share it with someone standing at the edge of their own larger life.

Related Resources

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Thanks to the team, Craig and Ashley Hiatt, and Benjamin Gould of Bell & Branch for your beautiful music.

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    Diana Hill

    Dr. Diana Hill, PhD is a clinical psychologist, executive consultant, and international trainer who helps leaders and teams navigate complexity without precedent. Her Wise Effort Method addresses a problem most high performers recognize immediately: the drive that got them here is now working against them. A leading voice in the evolution of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, she co-leads ACT BootCamp with ACT founder Dr. Steven Hayes, trains the trainers, and serves as an instructor for the University of California's Climate Resilience Initiative. She has led executive retreats and intensives for leadership teams including Deckers Brands, Lightfully Behavioral Health, and YPO. Diana is the author of Wise Effort: How to Focus Your Genius Energy on What Matters Most and three other books, hosts the Wise Effort podcast, and has been featured on NPR, CNN, and The Wall Street Journal. With over 20 years of yoga and meditation practice, she teaches from embodied experience rather than theory alone — her sessions are experiential and transformational.