A Message to Those Who Think They’re Too Old to Get Busy Living

I don’t understand it when people think it’s too late to make changes in their life and start living their life the way they want.

Is there a rule that I missed that says after we reach a certain age, that we’re stuck with our life the way it is?

Someone who’s 35 might feel like it’s too late while another person is 55 and feel it’s too late. That just proves that it doesn’t matter your age. It’s your perception.

Don’t you think the person who’s 55 will wish they were 35? They’ll wish they could go back 20 years and go after their dreams or change how their life is.

Thinking it’s too late to get a life that you want is one of the biggest myths holding you back in life.

The only time it is too late to do anything is when you’re physically not here anymore. Until then, don’t waste this only chance at life that you have.

If I compared myself to my friends, I was way behind. By the time we turned, 30 they had good jobs, got married, and even had kids. I was lost, confused, lonely, and unhappy.

I’ve always been a late bloomer. I didn’t get married till I was 34. I didn’t achieve my dream of being my own boss till I was 36. I’m 37 and still don’t have kids yet.

Do I wish I was 27 and living the life I am now? Absolutely, but when I was 27 I was still young and naive about life. I didn’t know what I know now.

When I turned 30, reality hit me. I had nothing to show for in life. I was unhappier at 30 than when I was 20. It wasn’t supposed to be like that. Instead of giving up, I made a promise to myself that my 30’s would be the best decade yet. I still have three years till 40, but I’ve done a pretty good job so far.

I could have thought I’m a loser at 30 for not knowing what I want to do in life. I could have continued to feel sorry for myself and wish I could go back and do things differently.

Sure there are some limitation as to when it’s too late to do something. If it requires physical talents like being a world class tennis player or soccer player, then it’s too late. It doesn’t mean I can’t start to learn how to play tennis or soccer. I could still find ways to compete.

If I wanted to learn the guitar and be good enough to perform, I could start to learn now at the age of 37. If I practiced just 30 minutes a day for a year, I would improve so much.

A guy went from a recreational table tennis to being ranked in the top 250 in England after playing every day for a year (see the video). What could you achieve if you did something every single day?

Other than physical limitations, most everything else has no expiration date. Who says you can’t go back to college now and get a degree? Just because your classmates could be old enough to be your child doesn’t mean you can’t go back.

Who says you can’t be an actor at any age? Watch movies and television shows, and you’ll see actors of all ages.

Do you have a book inside of you that you’ve wanted to write? Nobody wonders how old the author is being buying a book. In fact, nowhere inside of the book reveals the author’s age.

Want to start your own business? I read somewhere once that the older you are when you start your business, the better the chance of it succeeding. The reason is because of many more years of work experience. You’ve made mistakes in the past. You’ve had success in other areas. I also think there’s a different mentality. The older you are willing to work harder to make be successful. If you’re young, you think if it doesn’t work, you’ve still got more chances to try again.

Want to make a career change? Why can’t you? You have experience in one career that your next employer would probably appreciate more than a recent college graduate who’s only learned from the book.

If you can’t find the career you want, why not create it? We live in a time when companies empower people to write bestselling books, be a Youtube celebrity, make money selling handmade goods, or even sell t-shirts without any design experience or inventory.

Again it’s the mentality that you’re supposed to have everything in your life figured out by a certain age. Once you choose, you can’t change.

Stop thinking that way.

The people who tell you it’s too late are the ones who have already given up hope. The last thing they want to see is someone doing what they only dream about doing.

If you think it’s too late to change the direction of your life, start a new career, or pursue your passion, then your only other choice is to accept the life you have now. Thank you for participating in life. Now just wait your turn before you die.

That sounds harsh, but that’s what you’d be doing. You’d be dead on the inside but not buried yet.

If you’re going to give up then don’t complain to anyone. Don’t be upset. Get out of people’s way when they’re trying to change their life. You’ve already made your decision.

You can either take life by the steering wheel and drive into the direction you want it to go or sleep in the driver side while some drunken stranger drives you to who knows where.

Wait, you don’t want that to be you? Are you not ready to give up? I’m glad to hear that.

Forget about age for a moment.

Remove that out of the equation. When you do that, now everything still seems like there’s still enough time to do because you have no reference point.

Instead, you’re using your age as a focal point. Whatever your age is, you’re comparing your life to your friends. They might have their life figured out while you’re just as confused as ever. Or you look at someone younger than you, and it looks like life is perfect. Makes you feel like you missed your window of opportunity.

Now let’s put back age in the equation.

The average life expectancy is 78.84 in the United States and 81.5 in the UK. Even if you’re 65 years old, you still have 13 years left to enjoy life if you live in the US or 16 in the UK.

13-15 years is a long time. Think back fifteen years ago. Where were you in life? What life experiences have you had since then? How many photos? How many memories? Feels like a long time ago right? That’s fifteen Christmases, Super Bowls, New Year’s Eve and birthdays. That is a lot of time to do something.

If you’re 45 now you still have almost 30 years left. If you’re 35 now, you haven’t even lived half of your life expectancy.

Life changes drastically even in a year.. I experienced that myself. I didn’t even know it was possible at that point in my life, but my first full year after I said I’m going to finally do something to change my life, I achieved so much. I accomplished more goals in a year than I did the past ten. I grew as a person. I could feel I was on the right track finally.

Remind me again why it would be too late to change your life or go after your dreams? No matter what you age is right now, you still have a lot of years to live.

Don’t waste it living a life you don’t want. Decide today to begin to take 100% responsibility for your life and decide what it is you want to do.