Midlife Clutter

Reaching midlife doesn't mean you have to go into crisis mode, Peter says. Rather, he says it's about assessing your midlife clutter—whether it's in your home or in your head—and making the necessary adjustments. He talks with professional organizer Dorothy Breininger and fellow Oprah Radio host Marianne Williamson about getting rid of midlife clutter and making the second act of your life even better than the first.

Dorothy says many people need help pinning down their priorities as they approach midlife. Taking stock of what's most important to you, while weeding out all the unnecessary extras, will lead to greater fulfillment. "We have too many choices—that's clutter," she says. "Helping people define what they value most seems to be where I am doing a lot of my work."

For Marianne, midlife is the perfect time to "get it right in the places where we have gotten it wrong before." "All the areas where you have been unconscious, be conscious now," she says. If you've spent the first half of your life thinking more is better, Marianne says midlife might bring a change. "As we get older, sometimes we realize that it's getting rid of stuff rather than accumulating stuff that will aid us in our next step and evolution," she says.