Your Dreams Have No “Best Used Before Date”

Imagine reaching a point in your life where you looked back over the years and deeply regretted not having done something you whole-heartedly wanted to do. 

Now think of some of the reasons why this happened.

…Did you let your dream die because you put yourself behind everything and everyone else in your life?

…Or maybe it was because you were afraid to try and discover you are not “perfect” at it immediately?

“For of All Sad Words of Tongue and Pen, the Saddest are These, It Might Have Been…..”
– John Greenleaf Whittier

What is sadder still is never having even tried because you felt at a certain age that it was too late for you.

It is never too late to put yourself at the top of your list, prioritise yourself and your dreams, and do what you’ve always wanted to do. 

No matter if you’re in your 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, or beyond, you can still create your financial freedom.

“It’s never too late to start. It’s always too early to quit.”
– Ann Wilson | The Wealth Chef

Here are some great examples of people who did exactly that; they kept believing in their dreams and did something about them.

Taikichiro Mori was an academic who became a real estate investor at age 51 when he founded Mori Building Company. His brilliant investments made him the richest man in the world in 1992, when he had a net worth of $13 billion.

Louise Hay started Hay House, Inc., a successful publishing company at 58 when she couldn’t get anyone to publish her book “You Can Heal Your Life”. What began as a small venture in the living room of her home has turned into a prosperous corporation that has sold millions of books and products worldwide. At 81, Louise released her first-ever film on her life and work You Can Heal Your Life: The Movie.

F. Murray Abraham got his first decent screen role as an actor when he was 45. The role was in the movie Amadeus and he won an Academy Award for his brilliant portrayal of Antonio Salieri. He had thought of giving up acting just two years before but thankfully didn’t.

Arianna Huffington started Huffington post at age 55.

Andrea Bocelli didn’t start singing opera seriously until the age of 34. Some ‘experts’ told him it was too late to begin.

Phyllis Diller became a comedian at the age of 37. She was told by many club owners that she was “too old” to become a success.

Stan Lee, creator of Spider-Man, was 43 when he began drawing his legendary superheroes and his partner Jack Kirby was 44 when he created The Fantastic Four.

Julia Child didn’t even learn to cook until she was almost 40 and didn’t launch her popular show until she was 50.

Vera Wang started out as a figure skater who failed to make it to US Olympic figure-skating team. She later became an editor at Vogue but was passed over for the editor-in-chief position. So, she took it in her own hands and started designing wedding gowns at 40, and is now an incredibly famous and lucrative fashion designer.

Elizabeth Jolley had her first novel published at the age of 56. In one year alone she received 39 rejection letters but finally had 15 novels and 4 short story collections published to great success. 

Mary Wesley was 71 when her first novel was published. Talk about not giving up!

Laura Ingalls Wilder spent her later years writing semi-autobiographical stories using her educated daughter Rose as an editor. She published the first in the “Little House” books at age 65 in 1932. They soon became children’s literary classics, and the basis for TV show “Little House on the Prairie.”

Ricardo Montalbán had his dream house built at the age of 68. That was when he was finally financially able to do so and he went full-speed ahead with it.

Harland Sanders, better known as Colonel Sanders, was 62 when he franchised Kentucky Fried Chicken in 1952, which he would sell for $2 million 12 years later.

Ray Kroc spent his career as a milkshake device salesman before buying McDonald’s at age 52 in 1954. He grew it into the world’s biggest fast-food franchise.

Samuel Jackson has been a Hollywood staple for years now, but he’d had only bit parts before landing an award-winning role at age 43 in Spike Lee’s film “Jungle Fever” in 1991.

Anna Mary Robertson Moses, better known as Grandma Moses, began her prolific painting career at 78. In 2006, one of her paintings sold for $1.2 million.

Jack Weil was 45 when he founded what became the most popular cowboy-wear brand, Rockmount Ranch Wear. He remained its CEO until he died at the ripe old age of 107 in 2008.

Margaret Ringenberg flew around the world at 72.

Tim and Nina Zagat were both 51-year-old lawyers when they published their first collection of restaurant reviews under the Zagat name, which eventually became a mark of culinary authority.

Cancer survivor Barbara Hillary became one of the oldest people, and the first black woman, to reach the North Pole at the age of 75.

All of these people were discouraged and afraid at times – that’s called being human.

• They thought about giving up but didn’t.
  
  
• They kept their dreams alive and focused on where they were going, not where they had been.
  
  
• They continued to strive for what they wanted.
  
  
• They didn’t assign an age limit to their dreams and neither should you.

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”
– C.S. Lewis

The secret to getting what you want from life is understanding that it’s the moment by moment decisions about what you do right now that create your future.

You can put off doing what is important, or you can start working on it right now.

Let me know in the comments below – “What are you going to get on with creating in your life now you know age is no longer a valid reason why not?

Huge Love,

Ann