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Key Takeaways After 40, entrepreneurial strain often reflects misalignment of identity, meaning and leadership — not burnout.
More activity doesn’t resolve midlife founder unease; integration and peer connection do.
Leaders who address internal alignment gain depth, steadiness and long-term cultural strength.
From the outside, many entrepreneurs appear to be thriving. The business is stable or growing. Experience has replaced early uncertainty. Decisions are sharper than they used to be. By most traditional measures, things are working.
Yet internally, something feels off.
Energy feels flatter. Wins don’t land the way they once did. The work feels heavier, even when results are strong. And despite being surrounded by team members and loved ones, many founders feel increasingly alone in their thinking.
This isn’t burnout in the dramatic sense. There’s no collapse, no obvious breaking point. It’s quieter than that. It’s a slow erosion of connection — to purpose, to peers, and sometimes to the version of yourself that originally built the company.
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