It’s Never Too Late to Start a New Brilliant Career

A few days ago, I searched for the best age to write a novel. I wanted to figure out when famous writers published their first novels, and I wasn't disappointed at my findings. While some famous writers got published before they turned 20 years, some successful ones had to wait till they were over 50 to get published and build a career. 

While our culture currently fetishes youth, it is never too late for a determined person to start a career and succeed – unless you are thinking of sports. We are often overwhelmed by the lists of people making it big in different fields of life – 30 under 30 millionaires, 20 under 40 billionaires. Time Magazine even started an annual list of “Most Influential Teens.” 

A feeble-minded person can easily be intimidated by all the craze. It is always easy to find people your age, or those who are far much younger than you are, doing pretty well in different fields and living a great life. Even within the same field of endeavor, you can find so many people who are considerably young but stupendously successful. 

What is Normal? 

Success is good: that is why everyone desires it. But the truth is that success doesn't come easy. Again, there are no age limitations for breakthroughs. 

While we admire the young folks who become successful early in life, we can’t assume that it is the natural thing. For every highly successful teenager, there are hundreds of thousands of teenagers in the same age bracket who are yet to figure out what to do with their lives. The same thing even applies to people who are in their 30s. 

As much as we are expected to celebrate precocious achievements, it is important that we realize that it is not a norm. Actually, it is an exemption – a good exemption we should desire. When it doesn’t work out the way we plan, we should always remember that there is enough time to get a breakthrough. 

Different Times for Different Folks 

One important truth we must hold dear is that we develop and mature at different rates. This applies in different areas of life, including blooming and achieving what we can consider a major success. Every one of us will have multiple cognitive peaks throughout our lives. We will also see our talents and passions emerge across a range of personal circumstances. 

In almost every aspect of our life, we will have multiple times when success can come knocking. This doesn't mean that success will come without hard work – it simply means that there is always a chance that a time will come when all the ingredients that bring success will align in favor of an individual. Every hard work will pay off faster, bringing major success. 

What Science Has To Say About This 

To some people, every point we have raised in this post will sound like a fairytale until there is a scientific point to support it. The findings of cognitive research fully support this. The research revealed that every human has two types of intelligence – fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence. 

Fluid intelligence refers to an individual's ability to apply reason and solve novel problems, independent of knowledge from the past. This type of intelligence peaks early in life. Crystallized intelligence, on the other hand, is the ability to use skills, knowledge, and experience to solve problems. This type of intelligence will continue to improve well into middle age and beyond. 

At a youthful age, some individuals can achieve a lot with fluid intelligence. Those who didn't achieve that much can still record notable success with crystallized intelligence. As one peaks, the other continues to develop, making it possible for many people to record massive success during adulthood.

How to Improve the Chances of Success as Adult 

The decline in fluid (youthful) intelligence will not affect most adults very well. Crystallized intelligence is enough to achieve notable success, which is why someone can start a brilliant career at any age. 

To improve the chances of success in adulthood, individuals must compensate for the decline in fluid intelligence. This is not really a big deal. The best way to do it is to choose jobs, careers, and goals that align with their knowledge and skills. This way, they can optimize their crystallized intelligence. 

Specific Reasons Why It Is Never Too Late To Start a Brilliant Career 

We’ve already taken a holistic approach to this topic – it is time to look at the specific reasons why it is never too late to start a brilliant career. Without further ado, here are our top reasons:

• You owe it yourself to revisit a passion you didn’t explore as far as your physical condition allows for it
• Starting a new career in adulthood can help to optimize your brain by getting you to tackle new challenges 
• In adulthood, you deserve a career and work environment that doesn’t stress you out or strain you 
• You can always find another path when your current career is being threatened 
• You have reached the "proverbial ceiling" in your current career, and you want to take on a new challenge
• You cannot grow old in your current field of work, and you have a passion for another field that is more appropriate for the new phase of your life. 

Conclusion 

It is never too late to start a new brilliant career because intelligence doesn't really end. While some will achieve massive success in a specific field at a young age, many others will come in at a later age and still achieve massive success in that field. Once you believe you can succeed in any new career, give it your best, and you can achieve massive success.