Restart Your Life: Real Stories of Starting Over & Finding Joy
How to Start Over and Live Your Best Life at Any Age
Has this thought been swirling in your head recently — “Is this really it? Is this all there is to my life?”
Everybody has moments when they feel like they need to make a change. Those feelings usually get ignored.
You might think you’re just having a bad day, week, or year. Or you might think you’re too old to make big changes. But ignoring those feelings is seriously selling yourself short.
Think about it…Grandma Moses was in her late 70s before she picked up a paintbrush for the first time and launched her acclaimed folk art career.
Colonel Sanders didn’t open his first Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise until he was 62 after being fired from jobs his entire life.
Maybe you simply have this nagging feeling that there’s got to be more to life. The routines feel monotonous and you’re craving a total shakeup.
Kind of how I imagine Harrison Ford must have felt as a 35-year-old actor turned carpenter before his game-changing role as Han Solo in Star Wars.
Countless others rewrote their stories and life’s “second acts” long after youth was in the rearview.
Sara Blakely was selling fax machine door-to-door when she started Spanx at age 29. Now she’s a self-made billionaire!
I’m here to tell you — no one has missed the opportunity for a fresh start. You read that right. You absolutely can still hit the reset button at 35, 45, or 85!
Your past, and your present don’t have to equal your future. It’s up to you to reimagine what’s possible.
So go ahead and lean into that voice urging you to make a change. Don’t let doubts and what-ifs leave you paralyzed.
I get it, reinventing yourself is scary! There are infinite uncertainties with starting over. What if you fail? What if people judge you? What if you get out of your comfort zone and totally bomb?
Well here’s the thing — staying stuck and settling for a life of dissatisfaction may be the biggest failure of all. Let’s be honest, constantly wondering “what if…” and always feeling like you’re missing out takes an exhausting toll.
The anxiety is far worse than whatever worst case scenario you’re stressed about with trying something new. So have faith in your ability to adapt and rebuild.
Taking that first step towards change by getting unstuck is half the battle.
Perhaps for you, it’s your personal life that has you wanting to hit restart. Maybe the spark fizzled out in your relationship and you can’t remember the last time you felt truly in love and connected.
For some of you, a total career pivot might be calling. Steve Jobs answered that call in his mid-20s when he co-founded Apple and helped usher in an entirely new industry.
For others, it may mean going back to a long-dormant hobby or forgotten skill that you’re ready to turn into something more.
Julia Child didn’t release her iconic French cookbook until age 50 after discovering her passion for cooking.
Maybe your reinvention involves moving somewhere new — a fresh city, or even country, that helps you reset and open another chapter.
That’s exactly what Jimmy Buffett did in the 70s when he escaped Nashville for a new artist community in Miami, which perfectly nurtured his “Margaritaville” sound and vibe. Now the song “Margaritaville” has become a huge brand.
Maybe you’re just going through the motions at a job that doesn’t make you excited anymore. Or you’re in a career that pays the bills, but it’s not your true passion.
That’s kind of how Oprah Winfrey felt in her 20s. Later she took a leap into hosting her famous TV talk show (The Oprah Winfrey Show). It ended up being one of the most popular talk shows ever made, running for 25 seasons.
No matter what your objectives are, just promise yourself this: don’t settle for a life of endless head-scratching about what could’ve been.
Pave your own path forward with passion and drive. When the inevitable stumbling blocks and doubts arise, think of all the folks who reinvented their lives against all odds and logic. Then wake up each morning and keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Before you know it, your own reinvention will be your new reality. And as you look out at the fresh, wide open vista of possibility ahead, I can virtually guarantee your only regret will be “Why didn’t I start sooner?!”
