It’s never too late to be who you might have been.
-George Elliot-
There was a story in the New York Times a few weeks back about a woman by the name of Carmen Herrera. She is the new hot thing in painting. And the kicker. She’s 94.
This is definitely not the kind of story we are used to telling when it comes to success.
Why is that? Well we have this false notion in our heads about the correlation of age and success. We have been conned into believing that if we are going to make something of ourselves then it is supposed to happen when we are young.
Of course, the word “young” is relative. What might be young by one person’s standard, is considered old by another. A few months back, I had a conversation with a former student who had recently gone back to school at the age of 25. She was really struggling with this decision however because in her words, she was “too old” to be doing so.
Her real problem is a problem many of us face. We focus on the wrong part of the equation. Forget about age. It’s irrelevant. It’s a question of happiness.
Put more succinctly…
- Is it ever too late to commit to doing what you love?
- Are you ever too old to be truly happy by following your passion?
Now who in their right mind would say, “Well after 40 [you can insert any age in here in fact] years of age, it is too late to do what you love so you can be truly happy.”
Anyone with two brain cells to rub together would not dare utter such a bonehead statement and yet, we say this type of thing to ourselves all the time, subconsciously reinforcing that we are too old or that it is too late for us.
With the new year fast approaching, here is something to think about. If you had the opportunity to trade in all your years of compromise and mediocrity for the chance to live 2010 doing only what you loved, would you take it?
I would. I’ m sure you would to. So what is one thing you could do today to get that ball rolling? Maybe there is a course you could sign up for. Maybe there is a person doing something similar you could talk to. Maybe there is a blog or a website or an online community that you could join to surround yourself with other like-minded individuals.
Whatever it is, take that first step to making it happen and for crying out loud, quit thinking you are too old to do what you love.
To an idea worth quitting,
Dean
