Many of us feel stuck in a job we dislike and midlife is a common time to reassess what you are going to do with the rest of your years, especially when finances require us to work into older age. How can you make a change, follow your dreams and finally do what you always wanted? Late bloomers share the secrets to having a stunning second act.<\/p>\n
Be honest with yourself<\/p>\n
The first stage of the process is accepting what you want to achieve. \u201cI grew up in south London and it wasn\u2019t the sort of area where people become novelists,\u201d says Fiona Leitch<\/a>, 56, from Great Yarmouth. She dreamed of becoming a screenwriter until she reworked a script into her first novel, Dead in Venice, at the age of 48. It got picked up by Audible in 2017 and she has just published her 10th Cornish cosy mystery novel with HarperCollins<\/a>. To realise your ambitions, she says, you first have to \u201cadmit to yourself that is what you want to do\u201d.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t tell anybody<\/p>\n Nola Bliss<\/a>, 77, who lives in York in Western Australia, found success in her 70s as a standup comedian, performing to 500-strong crowds, and in 2025 won her state Next Gen comedy competition. \u201cI call myself professional because I have been paid, but it wouldn\u2019t be enough to keep a flea alive,\u201d says Bliss. What she does have is a \u201chuge fan club of boys in their 20s and 30s. They come up to me and say: \u2018You\u2019re so funny, you\u2019re like my naughty auntie.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n What is crucial is keeping your plan to yourself, says Bliss, who used to work in hospitality. \u201cDon\u2019t tell anybody what you\u2019re going to do, because they\u2019ll try and tell you that you can\u2019t. Don\u2019t share it with anybody. Just get on and do it. Don\u2019t say: \u2018Do you think this is a good idea?\u2019 Or \u2018I was thinking of taking up carpentry\u2019\u2026 no, nothing.\u201d This will stop people from trying to dissuade you from pursuing it.<\/p>\n Flower power. Photograph: Catherine Delahaye\/Getty ImagesFollow your dreams<\/p>\n \u201cFeel the fear and do it anyway,\u201d says Bliss. \u201cWhat\u2019s the worst that can happen? You find you don\u2019t like it and you stop? But at least you won\u2019t die thinking: \u2018I wish I\u2019d done that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf you fail, other people won\u2019t even notice,\u201d says Lisbeth Dreyer from Aurland in Norway, who is literally a late bloomer, becoming a flower farmer and florist in her 60s. One of the benefits of having the perspective of age, she says, is that \u201cyou know that it all goes into the river of life and life keeps going\u201d \u2013 wherever the river may flow.<\/p>\n Steven Taylor<\/a>, 73, had a varied career, but is most proud to have recently completed a PhD, a goal which he had meant to achieve in his 20s, but life got in the way. \u201cI\u2019m a great believer in the principles of neuroplasticity<\/a> \u2013 continuing to develop your cognitive capacity when you\u2019re older \u2013 I think that\u2019s what really worked for me.\u201d<\/p>\n Aim high\u2018If you want to take up knitting, knit something large.\u2019 Photograph: Zbynek Pospisil\/Getty Images<\/p>\n If it isn\u2019t obvious what your second act could be, look for something you\u2019re good at or are interested in, and think about what you can do with it, says Bliss, who first tried comedy in her 50s after signing up for a writing class. When you have worked out what to do, go big, she says: \u201cIf you want to take up knitting, knit something large \u2013 not a pair of booties.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve got to find something you\u2019re passionate about,\u201d agrees Leitch. \u201cIf you enjoy pottering around the garden in your spare time, you might want to do a course on garden design or horticulture.\u201d Then think about how you could turn it into a career: \u201cWhat can you do to move away from that boring job and find something that is more fulfilling?\u201d<\/p>\n Regret nothing<\/p>\n \u201cI have no regrets,\u201d says Shashi Aggarwal, who lives in Walsall and established the highly successful Spice Kitchen<\/a> business, selling her blends in tins, in her seventh decade, a completely new direction after years of selling other people\u2019s products in shops she ran with her husband. \u201cI was itching to do something myself,\u201d says Aggarwal. \u201cI don\u2019t think if I had started earlier I would have achieved any more. People say I am mad to be working at 75, but I enjoy every bit of what I do.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEven the things that maybe I shouldn\u2019t have done, I don\u2019t regret, because they\u2019ve made me who I am now,\u201d says Bliss. \u201cIt is all part of the tapestry: some parts of it are a bit ragged or have got porridge dropped on it, but it\u2019s all me.\u201d<\/p>\n Draw on what you have learnedMature students often find their life experience goes a long way. Photograph: Juice Images\/Alamy<\/p>\n The more experience, the better, if you want to become a writer, says Leitch, \u201cbecause it\u2019s like you\u2019ve done research without even doing research. You know a bit more about the world and how people work and how people react, so that can only help.\u201d<\/p>\n When Taylor went back to university in his mid-60s, he was by far the oldest person there, but \u201cthe only real difference I felt was that I had a lot of experience that marked me out in a way, and that I could draw upon and refer to,\u201d he says. He also felt he was \u201cintellectually very curious, because I\u2019d been starved of that stuff for 40 years\u201d.<\/p>\n You also have the authority to have opinions on certain subjects, given your age, which Bliss uses for material: \u201cI try to stay away from menopause because that is what they expect, but I joke about going on dating apps like \u2018Tinder Dry\u2019, \u2018Grumble\u2019, and \u2018Unhinged\u2019. Because I\u2019m older, I can also say some quite rude things.\u201d<\/p>\n Don\u2019t panic<\/p>\n At certain points, you may have responsibilities that mean you have to neglect your aspirations, but this doesn\u2019t mean it will last for ever, says Leitch. \u201cWhen I had my son in 2003, I stopped writing completely. You just don\u2019t get time to sit down and think when you\u2019ve got small children. Then I went back to work, and I was doing part-time jobs \u2013 I was a cleaner, I worked in a contact lens factory \u2013 that I could do around school times. It wasn\u2019t until he was about 10 that I really got back into writing regularly,\u201d and this led to her dreams becoming reality.<\/p>\n And don\u2019t hold back<\/p>\n \u201cI had started to think writing was just going to be something I always did as a hobby,\u201d says Leitch, but having a positive mindset helped her to persevere. \u201cIf you are good at something, admit to yourself you are good at it, and you need to carry on going,\u201d says Leitch. \u201cBut on top of that, there was an element of luck in getting it in front of the right people at the right time,\u201d she continues. \u201cYou have just got to keep working at it and to look out for opportunities and take them, even if they seem really unlikely.\u201d<\/p>\n Keep it simple<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes a simple idea can be a very successful business,\u201d says Aggarwal. Her son suggested that she sold the spice mixes she made at home, inspired by her Indian heritage. \u201cI said: \u2018Who would want to buy my spices? There is so much in the supermarket, why would somebody want that?\u2019\u201d Aggarwal got her first order on eBay on Boxing Day; her products are now stocked at 600 shops around the UK. \u201cYou could try your idea, start small, then gradually it might grow bigger. If you don\u2019t try, you\u2019ll never know,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n On running your own business, Dreyer adds: \u201cI think some people are scared of it. I\u2019ve freelanced a lot in my life and it is the most fun thing in the world to find your market, find your customers.\u201d<\/p>\n Don\u2019t feel your age<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t really do age,\u201d says Taylor. \u201cI don\u2019t live massively differently than I did when I was 35,\u201d which is a good job, as the PhD involved researching underground clubs and \u201cdancing until 4.30am fuelled by nothing more than a couple of espresso martinis\u201d. He has also written a book called Ageing<\/a> Radically: \u201cIt suggests how we could approach, handle and experience the later years in a way that is more constructive.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Kicking back and making jams is becoming less realistic to people.\u2019 Photograph: Francisco Franco\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Gone are the days of idealised retirement, continues Taylor: \u201cKicking back, making jam and going on cruises is becoming less realistic to people. If you can get to a point where you\u2019ve got some [financial] stability, then the second half of life is not necessarily about making more money or having a bigger house.\u201d Instead, you might want to use that stability to find a more pleasurable or easier way of paying the bills.<\/p>\n \u201cI work when I want to work,\u201d says Aggarwal. \u201cThat is the advantage of having your own business: you can take time out when you want to.\u201d She says that she has no interest in sitting and watching TV all day. \u201cBecause I worked for 40 years, Monday to Saturday, doing nothing doesn\u2019t seem right to me. I have a lot more to give.\u201d<\/p>\n Remember, you only live once<\/p>\n \u201cPeople should remind themselves that they only have one life,\u201d says Dreyer, \u201cand if there is something you want to do, you should try it. I think people feel bad inside if they don\u2019t try what they want to do. If it doesn\u2019t work, at least you tried. It is easier to live with it if you try.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAge is a state of mind,\u201d as Bliss puts it. A second career will \u201ckeep you alive, keep you young, keep you interesting\u201d.<\/p>\n