It Is Never Too Late to Be Successful

By: Consuela Allen

The globe recently celebrated another trip around the sun. This brought out some thoughts of rejuvenating old plans and initiating new ones. While this is usually the time of year when we are urged to remember our New Year’s resolutions, some people had never set sights on anything to resolve at all. This is beautiful if your reason for side-stepping the tradition was due to spiritual convictions or if you are already on your desired path. But what about those of us who may have even felt discouraged by all the pageantry and fanfare? Is it too late to set our intentions for a successful 2022?

Perhaps you, or someone you know, may have felt discouraged as the clock was striking midnight on January 1st if, for the past 30 or 40 years, life has not been going as you had hoped. You may have thought that a New Year’s resolution was pointless if you have been making the same resolutions for years without seeing your intentions manifest in the real world. Dwelling on failure can allow doubt to creep in and cripple your drive. Whether you have been attempting the same feat for 30 years or going nowhere fast for 40 years, it is never too late to achieve success. It was C.S. Lewis who once said, “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”

There are a myriad of factors that could lead to Impostor Syndrome. Our concepts of success may sometimes need to be adjusted. Defining and redefining success for yourself can alleviate a good portion of the undue psychological pressure you are enduring. While it is possible to gain national attention overnight, fame usually comes from a marathon, not a sprint. While it is possible to win the lottery, wealth itself is typically a slow-burn. With the prominence of social media highlights invading our leisure time, it can be easy to confuse long-term goals with short-term plans.

While I am very grateful for the business networking and connections to loved ones that social media afford me, I have to remind myself that these platforms are only shadows and echoes of true reality. How we interpret algorithmic content can suggest to us that we have to already be great to get started or that we have to be the greatest to keep striving. The mind then frantically looks for an exit and becomes tempted to quit or give up when Impostor Syndrome digs in its heels. In the wise words of Les Brown, “You don’t have to be great in order to get started but you do have to get started in order to be great.”

Perhaps your industry has ended and now you need a new career. Perhaps you never really had a career, and now you’re considering going back to school. Maybe you’ve always known what your call and passion are but it hasn’t worked out quite yet. Maybe there is some wellness goal you’ve always wanted to achieve or a contribution to your community you’ve wanted to make for many years. Whether your goals are financial, romantic, philanthropic, or health-related, it is not too late to accomplish them.

While I urge you to define success for yourself, as you research this topic, you will never find a definition for success that is contingent upon age. Earl Nightingale once stated, “Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal or ideal.” Are your goals truly worthy of your

time and energy? If so, then you owe it to yourself to continue working on them. No, it is not too late to start. If you have already started on your endeavors and you have been trying to fulfill your dreams for many years, it is never too late for success to eventually find you. If you still suspect that I might be spewing Pollyannism – gassing you up for optimism’s sake – here is a list of notable people who were also late bloomers:

Sam Walton - Opened his first Walmart at age 44.

Seasick Steve - Got his first gold record at age 55.

Donald Fisher - Started The Gap clothing store at age 40.

Wally Amos - Built the cookie brand, Famous Amos, at age 49.

Simon Cowell - Became a TV show judge on Pop Idol at age 42 Judith Scheindlin - Starred in the TV show, Judge Judy, at age 54.

Colonel Sanders - Founded KFC and became a millionaire at age 73.

Ray Kroc - Bought out McDonald’s after working as their salesman at age 59.

Henry Ford - After several failed car companies, finally turned a profit at age 45.

Samuel L. Jackson - Didn’t gain clout for his acting until Jungle Fever at age 43.