It's Never Too Late

Recently I’ve had an idea bouncing around in my head and I felt like it was time to share it with you all to challenge some perspectives on a topic I commonly hear discussed. This is related to the people out there who are attempting to start something new - job, sport, hobby, etc.

Typically, when having conversations with people who are still juggling the idea of diving into a new hobby, venture, whatever it may be, you tend to hear phrases such as, “I’m too old to start,” or “I wish I would’ve started this when I was ____ years old."

The problem with this mindset is that it is a limited view on what you have to bring to the table, or gain from the potential experience. As I’ve gotten older my own paradigm has shifted over the years and now focuses on the idea that what we get out of an experience first starts with the perspective we have going into it.

Take Brazilian jiu-jitsu for example, or any other new experience that you’d like to insert, a pretty common conversation with somebody who’s still on the fence of deciding whether or not to give it a shot, you hear similar phrases as what I’ve mentioned above....”I’d be such a killer if I would’ve started when I was 13,” or “He doesn’t know how lucky he is that he was able to start that young." Yet what people rarely think about is that where they're currently at may actually act as an advantage for them. Don’t get me wrong, obviously someone who started training when they were 20 versus 30 is going to be a lot closer, in theory, to achieving the 10,000 hours principle. However, the person who starts when they are 30 versus 20 may actually have an advantage by coming into it with a more mature mindset for approaching the technical learning aspect of the art or craft.

For example, I could sit here and say, “Man, if only we would’ve started this business five years ago...” but the reality is my outlook on life, martial arts, and community was being seen through a different lens than what it is now. The experiences I’ve had within the previous five years have played into my overall development and helped get me to a point where I was ready to share these stories.

So when you’re deciding whether or not to give something new a shot, I challenge you to take a moment and reflect on the outlook that you have going into it.

Just remember - it’s never too late to start.