The Second Mountain: Navigating the Meaning Crisis in the Modern Era

Q2 is upon us. Time to take stock of Q1. I hope you made your numbers, reached your personal goals or at least had some fun. Are you ready to take on Q2 and to do it all again? Great. Or is it?

If you are looking for more than making your numbers and are troubled by a sense of something missing in your life and work, keep reading. From now until the end of June, this blog series is going to be addressing the following question:

"I’ve done everything I was told would make me happy. Why do I feel so empty?"

We live in a world of unprecedented material abundance and if that’s all that mattered to us, theoretically we should be satisfied with life. But we’re not. The data shows that as populations in the West, people in most countries are less satisfied, angrier, more depressed, lonelier and more unhappy than they’ve ever been. (World Happiness Report 2025/2026/Gallup: State of the Global Workplace 2025/APA: Stress in America 2025)

In the United States and abroad, the structures that once provided us with a sense of purpose—community, faith, and traditional career paths—are fraying. For the high-achieving professional, this crisis often manifests as a haunting question that echoes in the quiet moments between meetings. If you have time between meetings.

The Success Paradox

If you are between the ages of 45 and 70, you have likely spent decades climbing what social scientist Arthur Brooks calls the "First Mountain." You’ve checked the boxes: the senior title, the healthy portfolio, the reputation. You’ve mastered the art of getting.

For many, the view from this personal plateau is unexpectedly cold, while the view toward the summit and the rest of the climb has lost its appeal. The motivators that drove you in your 20s and 30s—prestige, accumulation, and competition—no longer provide the fuel they used to. You are realizing that while you are successful, you are not yet satisfied.

Understanding the Shift

At Logan Advisory Services (LAS), we recognize that this transition is a critical period of your life. The unhappiness you may feel at work isn't a sign of failure. It is instead an opportunity to recalibrate and ask yourself what you want now. The person who has worked for 20 or more years is a different person than the one who entered the workforce. You now have skills and experience. You have a better idea–or a completely different one–of what makes you happy and what you are trying to achieve.

But what is happiness and should we even think that way about work? My answer to that is that we all spend too much time working for it not to be something that can bring us happiness.

Let’s start with what happiness is as a standard social science definition. Happiness is comprised of:

1. Enjoyment: Moving beyond mere pleasure toward deep, shared experiences.

2. Satisfaction: The reward of a job well done, not for the paycheck, but for the craft.

3. Meaning: The knowledge that your life and work are serving a purpose greater than yourself.

Why Now?

The transition from a career based on achievement to a life based on impact is a treacherous bridge to cross alone. It requires more than a resume refresh. Think of it as an inventory. It’s a strategic re-alignment to position what comes next which might involve a course correction for the second half of life. Whether you are looking to pivot your career, launch a business, or redefine what retirement looks like, the goal is the same: to find enjoyment, satisfaction, meaning, and true happiness in the next part of your life.

If Not Now, When?

Over the coming weeks, this blog series will explore how to navigate this major professional and life change. The series will concentrate specifically on the search for the meaning of your own life. There is a quote attributed to Mark Twain:

“The two most important days of your life are the day you were born and the day you figure out why”.

You’ve spent years building your skills, your position and your assets. Now, it’s time to build your life.