Forget the phrase "I'm too old to"... Fifty is the new thirty today and age must not be a barrier to achieving your dreams
Starting something new, whether it's education, work or a hobby, is always difficult. Stepping into the unknown and leaving your comfort zone scares a lot of people. However, the biggest obstacle to pursuing our dreams is not so much the fear of failure, but rather the lingering idea that it is simply too late to change. Try it for yourself. You can certainly add to the sentence "I'm too old to..." in any number of ways. And it's ironic, because it doesn't matter how old you are. You could be 20, 40, 60. This basic mantra is firmly ingrained in the human mind. Yet... it's never too late to defy it.
Try to take a moment to reflect and honestly answer the questions, "Am I really living the life of my dreams?", "If my life were to end abruptly now, would I be satisfied when I recap?", "Have I achieved everything I wanted to achieve in life?". Or: "Am I still waiting for something?" or "Do I even know what is important to me?". Although this sounds like the beginning of a coaching exercise, the fact is that some recapitulation of one's own situation can actually be beneficial for a person - if they can look objectively at the reality of their life, they can also arrive at a starting point for change. Because a not very fulfilled life is experienced by many of us. There is nothing strange about that. Many people feel lost, isolated, but also demotivated. Just like the proverbial hamster in the wheel.
Although no problems are insurmountable, many are convinced that because of a myriad of important commitments (living expenses, mortgage, family, etc.) they cannot in any way live the life they truly desire - so they give up their dreams and focus on just getting by. Because the situation has gone so far that it's too late... It may seem practical and pragmatic, but it's really all about their own fear. The fear of taking risks. Fear of failure. And getting back up and moving on. Of course, these fears also stem from the culturally affirmed "truth" that one is simply "too old" for certain things...
What does it mean to be "too old"?
It's actually kind of funny, while there are certainly life milestones defined by society (but perhaps also by biological body functions - which could apply to natural pregnancy), we set a lot of things for ourselves alongside them as we age. So many set goals to have children by a certain age, to get promoted at work, to pay off the mortgage. Although it can be quite refreshing to have a goal to travel the world by a certain age, for example, the bottom line is that although life goals are great - and connecting them to certain points in life can be beneficial - age should simply stop being the defining criterion. After all, life expectancy continues to increase, people are much more active and, thanks to modern medicine and also healthy lifestyle options, more fit. It is therefore de facto contrary to modern society to associate personal goals with socially accepted life points (after all, even women have children much later today than, say, two decades ago!). Using the pop culture donkey's bridge, in which "orange is the new black", one could thus say that "50 is the new 30".
Zdroj: Giphy
Age is just a number
If "fifty is the new thirty" holds true, it's actually clear that what it says on your birth certificate doesn't matter all that much. Age is just and only a measure of time - but not a criterion by which we should control and limit what we are doing. Age in no way describes who we are, nor should it be a barrier to achieving what we desire. The statement that it's simply too late for something in life then universally applies at a single moment, when we breathe our last breath. But until then, we should make the most of every day, hour and minute.
Examples of dragging
And because there are never enough positive examples, it is definitely worth reminding ourselves that achieving the success we desire is really not limited by age. Arnold Schwarzenegger, for example, achieved worldwide fame with the film Terminator when he was 37 years old. Mary Kay Ash had already passed her 45th birthday when she launched her cosmetics brand, which subsequently became a multi-billion dollar business. The famous Mona Lisa painting was created when Leonardo Da Vinci was 51. And when the first volume of the now world-famous Lord of the Rings saga hit the market, J.R.R. Tolkien was 62. It was John Gleen, who made history as the oldest person to go into space, who celebrated his 77th birthday at the time. So it really is never too late to dream big and achieve great things. And if things don't work out as planned, know that Vincent Van Gogh's work didn't become globally recognised until many years after his relatively early death...