It’s Not Too Late! 🕢
People have a heavily skewed perception of time towards the early half of one’s life. There is a sense of your best years being early in your life.
Your first kiss.
Your marriage.
Your first big break.
Your first kid.
These are all accomplishments that people expect to happen in their 20s and 30s.
Nothing is ever truly noteworthy about your 40s, your 50s or your 60s. Just the coming of your kids’ kid. You becoming a grandparent - which is entirely out of your control. I think in terms of milestones, they are unfortunately too heavily weighted towards the earlier half of your life.
I THINK THAT SHOULD CHANGE.
SENSE OF WASTING TIME
There’s always a sense of wasting time. That we’re running out of time. That what any mistake in our life is time not worth spending or that we’ve wasted.
We’re always focused on efficiency with time.
Being quick, getting ahead, wasting time, being too late to do something, missing the boat.
Our relationship with time is always not having enough of it.
And because we see our life aspirations as limited to our 20s to 30s, we limit ourselves. Once those timelines are passed, we have to close those doors. Cause, we missed our chance.
I wish I studied X in school but it’s too late now.
I wish I did Y in my lifetime. I always wanted to do Y.
I’m too old now to pursue Z. I’m past my prime or don’t have the time to do Z
But why?
Why can’t you study X in school now?
Why can’t you pursue Y in your spare time?
Are you truly too old to pursue Z now despite being past your “prime”.
Time and time again, people are popping up to shatter those stereotypes and demonstrate that age is just a number and there are a lot of things you CAN do beyond your 30s. But they’re treated as anomalies rather than the norm and unfortunately, we still
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If you want to change careers, why not?
It’s not too late. There’s no metaphorical boat that you’ve missed.
If there’s a chance it will bring you more happiness and fulfillment and you hate your job now, why not take that chance?
It’s never too late!
And it’s worth remarking that people exist out there who have done it - who have changed careers and accomplished amazing things in the process.
Sidney Frank and Grey Goose.
At 77 years old in 1997, Sidney Frank developed Grey Goose vodka with maître de chai François Thibault.
He was 77 years old.
Think about that.
He was creating, trying new things, taking risks, and pushing the envelope at the age of 77.
At 77 years old, most people are checking out. They’re relaxing. They’re retired. They’re taking it easy.
I think it’s so inspiring that he found something interesting enough to pursue into his 70s and 80s.
In 2004, Frank sold the company to Bacardi for over $2 billion. He became a billionaire in his 80s which was an apparent goal of his.
He ended up dying 2 years later at the age of 86 but he pursued something he was passionate about until the end of his life.
Vera Wang and Bridal Wear
Vera Wang worked at Vogue for 17 years as an editor. She worked at Ralph Lauren for 2 years afterwards. Then at 40, she resigned and became an independent bridal wear designer. At the age of 40.
Having graduated from college and worked for 7 or 8 years now, I already feel like a part of my identity is attached to my job. I can’t even imagine pursuing a different career or redefining my career.
So It Is Possible.
Pursuing something different, making a change, learning a new skill. All of it is possible.
I think we have to put into perspective how long we live and how much we can accomplish in that time.
Why does 4 years in college or university define the rest of our lives? It’s 4 years.
Why can’t we spend the next 4 years learning something different and having an entirely new and different career? Why are those 4 initial years cemented and rigidly representative of our lives and yet 4 additional years are not flexible enough to facilitate a change?
Why do we not celebrate and encourage each other as a society on changes in life later on for happiness or fulfilment.
Instead, we look at changing careers later on as fixing a screw-up, better late than never, or having wasted the earlier years.
Now, I know I’m definitely glossing over the financial, mental, emotional and physically-taxing aspects of making such a substantial change in one’s life. But I think it’s important to acknowledge the possibility and to also recognize that others have accomplished this feat as well. Their situations may not have been the same as yours or mine but they were able to and I think there’s value in realizing that potential rather than seeing it as a missed opportunity.
And I challenge you to look at what doors you’ve mentally closed because of some arbitrary decision and consider pursuing something that makes you happy in life, something that is fulfilling.
For me, it means that I have lots more time to figure out what I want to do and I have the breathing room to know I can be patient and try many things over the next several decades. I have a stable 8-4 job and then I get to pursue hobbies and interests on the side in an entrepreneurial capacity to grow and expand my skill set even if they have nothing to do with my current career.
It means that I can shift my perspective and be open to change, open to opportunities, and trust my gut when considering fun and exciting but unrelated skills.
Because who knows?
Jobs that didn’t exist 5-10 years ago, now exist.
Skills that were not valued are now extremely valuable.
The world is changing and I want to live a fulfilled and stimulating life in whatever capacity I can and my wants and needs can change from my wants and needs when I was in my 20s and 30s.