The Myth of ‘Too Late’

Can you still flourish at this age?

Somewhere along the way, society decided that reinvention had an expiration date. You are destined to decline, or worse, into a predictable, uninspired life if you don’t figure it all out by your 30s or 40s

But what if that’s just a myth? What if the best chapters are written later, when we finally have the wisdom, freedom, and self-awareness to create something meaningful?

I feel I can say a thing or two about reinvention. After 19 years in the nonprofit sector, I built a business in container gardening education, helping people grow lush, thriving spaces in the harshest climates. I ran a business, wrote books, and became a recognized expert.

I took this knowledge and experience and started a coaching practice. But 10 years later, when I stepped away from coaching, I found myself untethered, staring at a blank slate where my well-defined identity had once been. I had always known what was next until I didn’t.

That uncertainty could have been paralyzing.

Instead, it opened a door.

At 71, I found myself doing something I never thought I would. Writing fiction. Not just dabbling but fully embracing storytelling, creating complex characters, weaving intricate plots, and building an entirely new world in Women of the Canyon.

My entré into fiction isn’t just a hobby. It’s a complete reinvention. A shift that required me to challenge the very myth I had unknowingly absorbed. That big, bold changes are reserved for the young.

And I’m not alone.

• Laura Ingalls Wilder published Little House in the Big Woods at 65. Before that, she had never written a book.

• Grandma Moses started painting at 78, launching a career that would make her a household name.

• Harland Sanders (yes, Colonel Sanders) was in his 60s when he franchised KFC, proving that a legacy can start at any age.

Reinvention isn’t about youth. It’s about curiosity. It’s about saying, What if I tried this? And being willing to start as a beginner, no matter how much expertise you’ve had elsewhere.

The hardest part is often the mindset shift. When I started writing fiction, I carried the baggage of an old critique. My 10th-grade English teacher told me I wasn’t cut out to be a writer.

That voice lingered in the background for over five decades. And yet, here I am, writing novels, building a new audience, and proving to myself that it’s never too late.

Is this your story?

Maybe you’re feeling that nudge toward something new, be it painting, writing, teaching, traveling, launching a business, learning a language, whatever it may be.

Maybe you’re hesitant because it feels like the time to start has passed.

Let me tell you, it hasn’t. The only timeline that matters is the one you create.

So, what is the reinvention waiting inside you?