Balancing Corporate & Homesteading Lifestyles
11 Famous People That Succeeded Later in Life
Do you feel like it’s too late to achieve a significant amount of success? Many of the most successful people did start at a young age. It can be disheartening for the late bloomers among us.
But many of the most successful people you know didn’t get started until much later in life.
If you think you missed the boat because you’re middle-aged, you couldn’t be more wrong. You’re wrong even if you’re 80.
Success often isn’t achieved until later in life:
- Samuel L. Jackson didn’t get his first big role until the age of 43. Prior to that he was a struggling actor with little future. Now he’s known by people all over the world for his acting. How many movies, TV shows, and video games has he been in since that first big role in Jungle Fever? 140!
- Sam Walton founded Wal-Mart at the age of 44. He had been successful in the retail environment in his younger years, but nothing out of the ordinary. Wal-Mart went on to become one the biggest companies in the world, and Walton become one of the world’s richest.
- Stan Lee. Known to everyone as the creator of Spiderman and the X-Men, Stan Lee didn’t experience success until the age of 39. And his most well-known work didn’t occur until several years after that. Who says it’s too late to do something incredible with your life?
- Ronald Reagan never held a political office until the age of 55! He became one of the most popular presidents in modern history.
- Colonel Sanders didn’t invent his famous chicken recipe until he was 50. His famous chain of restaurants is still doing well today. His likeness has been used to market KFC since the very beginning.
- College students everywhere owe a debt of thanks to Momofuku Ando. At the age of 48, he created those Ramen noodles that poor students rely on for life itself. How many times have you had Ramen noodles in your life?
- Charles Darwin wrote On the Origin of Species at the age of 50. No book has had a greater effect on the theory of evolution than Charles Darwin’s iconic book.
- Taikichiro Mori became a real estate investor at the age of 55. He was a professor before that. He was the richest man in the world in 1992 with a net worth $13 billion. He inherited his first building from his father. The rest he accomplished on his own.
- Grandma Moses started painting at the age of 78. If you have the gumption, you can still make an impact after 70. One of her paintings sold for over a million dollars.
- Laura Ingalls Wilder didn’t publish her first novel until she was 65-years old. She wrote an additional 12 novels after that. A successful television series was built around her series of books. Older children still read her books today.
- Peter Roget created the first thesaurus when he was 73-years old. He was trained as a medical doctor but had an obsession with words, especially words that had the same meaning. He quit his medical career to focus on the creation of the first thesaurus. The most popular thesaurus in the world still bears his name.
It’s never too late to leave your mark on the world!
But time is constantly passing, so it’s time to start making it happen. Spend the later portion of your life pursuing something you love. There’s still time to do something amazing!
Affirmation: I avoid focusing on the trees so I don’t lose sight of the beautiful forest
I have a panoramic view of life. My eyes focus on the beauty of the whole. In order to see the bigger picture, I take a step back from where I am.
When I want to see something different, I simply reposition myself. When I look objectively from far away, I see that there is a purpose larger than me.
Stepping back helps me appreciate life as a whole. Like a forest, life is a combination of experiences. Just as some trees are more majestic than others, so are my experiences. I take the good with the bad and end up with a beautiful result.
I value each tree as a part of a whole. There is something I can get from each tree, but I look beyond it to catch a glimpse of something greater. If I fix my eyes on the individual trees, I miss out on the majesty of the forest.
One tree by itself is amazing as it is, but it is no comparison to a lush forest. I do not settle for a single tree when there is a beautiful forest that I deserve to enjoy.
I stay away from having a narrow view. Each day I take action to enlarge my vision. I look for things that may be hidden from me.
My ambitions are the binoculars that help me bring the larger image into focus. When I look through the eyes of ambition, my dreams feel close to me.
The forest has much more to offer than a single tree. I avoid focusing on the trees because there are experiences beyond my imagination awaiting me in the forest.
Self-Reflection Questions:
1. What do I need to do to reposition myself and have a better view?
2. When was the last time I took a step back to look at my life objectively?
3. How can I enlarge my vision today?
Affirmation: I thrive off simple things
Nature teaches me many lessons about how to live a fulfilling life. When I see the beauty of birds, I am reminded that I am able to thrive on simplicity.
Birds amaze me with their range of colors, sizes, and species. Each type is equally beautiful and presents that beauty unconditionally. Seeing their best side reminds me that it is possible to present my best side in all situations.
When I consider that birds remain as beautiful and cheery on rainy days as they are on sunny days, I am humbled. They teach me a lesson in being grateful.
Just being able to see the sun rise is a reminder that I am blessed. I use the examples from nature to push myself through challenges and come out smiling. Although I sometimes hurt, the beauty of my soul remains intact.
The creatures of the air fly around knowing that they are provided for. That faith is a lesson in faith for me.
Whenever I feel worried about the source of my next meal, I remember the birds. Their portrayal of confidence and high-spiritedness through faith is inspiring. I know that even when I feel out of options, there is one right around the corner.
Today, even my greatest challenges are manageable when I have faith and remain happy. I celebrate the blessings that are bestowed on me. I have enough to feel content and at peace each day of my life.
Self-Reflection Questions:
- How else does nature inspire me to live positively?
- What lessons do birds teach me about survival and contentment?
- How often do I take the time to observe the actions of others around me?
Affirmation: There Is A Season In Life For Everything I Want To Achieve
I am excited about my goals because I know they are due to be achieved at some point. There is a season in life for all I want to attain. I keep that thought in mind as I pursue the life I desire.
Sometimes the process of reaching targets is slow. It is easy to get discouraged but I avoid falling into that trap. I know things happen at the right time.
I remain focused on the sequence of goals and avoid emotional decisions.
I look at the beauty of each day.
The small blessings help make my days fulfilling. I am grateful for wonderful experiences while on my journey to success.
Even when I am unable to succeed at interviews or exams, I remain positive. It means that there is more to be done to make myself ready.
I stay away from feeling jealous about the achievements of friends and family. I am happy for their success. I avoid holding the expectation that my goals are to be achieved by a specific time. Patience keeps me pushing forward towards aspirations.
Today, I am accepting of where I am in life. I am aware that the road to success is often long. But I have the perseverance to keep going until I hit my target.
Self-Reflection Questions:
- Where can I find the encouragement to keep me motivated?
- How do I bounce back after becoming impatient with my progress?
- What is my reaction when achievements happen long before I expect them?
16 Healthy Habits To Form Before Your Next Birthday
You can have more to show for your birthday than cake crumbs and burnt candles. Let each annual celebration serve as a trigger to develop habits that contribute to a longer and healthier life. Take a look at these suggestions to help you get started:
Habits to Enhance Your Mental Health
⇒Let go of expectations. While many events may be beyond your control, you can decide how to respond to them. Welcome whatever comes your way and use your experiences to learn and grow.
⇒Give generously. Focusing on others brings more happiness into your life. Share your time, expertise, and possessions.
⇒Practice forgiveness. Take a load off your mind by giving up any grudges or resentments. Wish others well even when you disagree with their actions. Show compassion for yourself as well.
⇒Develop a hobby. Put your leisure time to good use. Learn how to play a musical instrument or speak a foreign language.
⇒Communicate directly. Express your true thoughts openly and tactfully. Offer constructive feedback. Ask for what you want and need. Your courage will help others to do the same.
⇒Deepen your relationships. Concentrate on the quality of your relationships. Make time for family dinners and meaningful conversations with old friends. Pick one acquaintance you want to know better and invite them to lunch.
⇒Look on the bright side. List the things you are grateful for, and start each day by giving thanks for your blessings. When you’re feeling challenged, think of what you have to gain.
⇒Meditate and pray. Take care of your spiritual side. Follow your faith tradition or invent rituals that are meaningful for you.
Habits to Enhance Your Physical Health
⇒Exercise regularly. Keep your body strong and limber. Aim to work out for at least a half hour three days a week. Find a variety of activities you enjoy so you’ll stay motivated.
⇒Move around. Build more physical activity into common tasks. Stand up when you talk on the phone. Climb the stairs instead of riding the elevator.
⇒Sit up straight. Good posture requires no extra time out of your busy schedule. Straighten your back, lift your head, and lower your shoulders. You’ll instantly feel more alert, and protect yourself from back pain.
⇒Sleep well. Your body needs good quality sleep and rest to keep running efficiently. Go to bed and wake up on a consistent schedule.
⇒Eat a balanced diet. Stock up on nourishing whole foods. Fill your plate with fresh vegetables and fruits, lean proteins, and healthy fats. Cut back on processed foods that are full of sugar and empty calories.
⇒Apply sunscreen. Put on your sunscreen year round instead of saving it just for summer. Reapply it if you’ve been sweating or swimming.
⇒See your doctor. Ask your physician what lifestyle changes would have the greatest impact for you. Maybe you want to quit smoking or lose weight. Maybe you want to manage your diabetes or reduce your risk for osteoporosis.
⇒Manage stress. Stress affects our bodies as well as our emotions. Chronic stress can lead to inflammation which is associated with many conditions, from headaches to heart disease. Find effective ways to relax, like listening to classical music or playing with your dog.
Look forward to growing older. Stop counting your grey hairs and start counting how many positive changes you can make to your daily routines. Turn each birthday into an opportunity to enhance your mental and physical well-being.
Is Minimalism For You?
Minimalism and simplicity are commonly used terms today. Are they the same thing? There are varying degrees of minimalism. Many view minimalism as the modern equivalent of living in a cave and eating berries by a fire, but that isn’t necessarily the case.
If you feel like your life is too hectic or lacks meaning, minimalist ideas might help you create a life that’s more centered and enjoyable.
Simplifying your life is a matter of reduction. But, minimalism goes further. It also includes elimination. You’re literally removing things from your life.
Signs that minimalism might be a viable idea to enhance your life:
⇒You have items in your way that you rarely use. Unnecessary clutter has a negative impact on your life. It weighs you down emotionally and wastes your time.
⇒Box up those unneeded items and then sell, donate, or toss them.
⇒You have excessive debt. The only material goods that are necessary are food, clothing, and shelter. While there’s no reason to get too carried away with limiting yourself to the bare essentials, if debt is making your life miserable, you’re likely purchasing too much.
⇒Prior to any purchase, ask yourself if it’s something you truly need or if it’s just a want.
⇒You’re upset that you don’t own a nicer car, house, or other items. If you have a car that breaks down all the time, of course you’d like a more reliable car. But if you already own a decent, reliable car, it’s different. Is obsessing about owning a $100,000 car really conducive to a happy life? Certainly you can find more meaningful things to occupy your thoughts.
⇒You’re busy, but your life lacks meaning. We’ve all had days filled with activity, which ended with feelings of emptiness. Minimalism can help remove the excess from your life to make room for more meaningful activities.
Luckily, there are many strategies that can help you embrace a life of minimalism. You just need to know how to get started.
How to introduce minimalism into your life:
⇒Get clutter off the floor. Not only will your home and office look cleaner, but you’ll be surprised at how much better you feel! Put it on a shelf, in the closet, or get rid of it altogether.
⇒Now hit the countertops, tables, and shelves. Go through all those items and ask yourself if you’ve used them in the last six months. Do you truly need them? Clear off those spaces as much as possible.
⇒Go through your clothes. Most people wear 20% of their clothes 80% of the time, while the other 80% of your clothes are just taking up space.
⇒If you don’t wear it, or it hasn’t fit in over a year, let it go.
⇒Make a list of all the optional activities in your life. Include all the organizations, clubs, team sports, happy hours, and so on. Eliminate one. In a couple of weeks, eliminate another. Now fill some of that free time with activities you really love. You can free up a lot of time by learning how to say “no.”
⇒Repeat this process on a regular basis. Just a couple of cycles of minimalizing will dramatically reduce the complexity of your life.
You don’t have to live under a tarp in the woods to use minimalism to your advantage. It’s simply a matter of removing excess and meaningless things from your life. Use some of the extra time and space to introduce new, amazing things into your life. You’ll be glad you did!
Affirmation: I See Possibility At Every Turn
I notice every opportunity in front of me. I pay attention to the details, so I see the possibilities everywhere.
I know the universe presents an infinite number of options. I am happy to pick and choose the ones that work for me. I am grateful that the world has so many possibilities in it.
I notice all the possibilities created by this magical universe.
I direct my energy toward the opportunities that help me and my family. I focus on the ones that matter most. I see the positive options even during difficult situations.
I have the determination to take advantage of these opportunities.
I have the skills and talents to make an opportunity into a success story. I take every possibility as a chance to improve my life.
I raise questions, search for answers, and look at possibilities.
I find innovative ways to handle issues or roadblocks. I look at obstacles from new angles.
I make advances toward success. My mind allows me to see how to use every opportunity to my advantage. I make shifts in my perspective to ensure I capture every possibility. I reset and pause my thinking to reach goals.
Today, I notice how possibilities spring up before me. I am thankful to have the vision to see them every day.
Self-Reflection Questions:
- How can I ensure I avoid missing important opportunities?
- What can I do to help others see the possibilities in front of them?
- How can I train my mind to look at more than one option without feeling overwhelmed?
Affirmation: There Is A Positive Lesson In Each Situation I Face
I look for learning opportunities in each situation I encounter. Positive experiences and unfavorable circumstances both can teach great lessons.
I gain wisdom when I allow myself to look deeply at various situations. That knowledge allows me to be open to new things. When I am open-minded, I create a sense of purpose.
My job is an ongoing learning experience. Although my shortcomings make me feel frustrated at times, I can see a ray of light. I realize that having limitations means having room for improvement and opportunities for greater achievements.
My quest for developing personal relationships sometimes ends unfavorably. When I meet someone who wants to take advantage of me, I am disappointed. I revisit my process for assessing a person's character.
When I am able to look back and see my missteps, I feel relieved. It gives me the confidence to pursue future relationships while exercising wisdom.
Stress sometimes causes me to become ill. I learn the necessity of treating myself well, and work towards having stress-free environments, where my health is first and foremost.
Today, I am open to the situations that life throws in my direction. I am confident in my ability to take them in stride. I commit to analyzing each experience in hopes of finding the positive lesson hidden within.
Self-Reflection Questions:
- In what situations do I feel too overwhelmed to find the positive lesson?
- What are some of the techniques I can use to focus on staying positive?
- Why is it hard to find the positive lesson during a difficult situation?
Full-Time Job and a Part-Time Business: How to Manage Your Time
Managing time wisely and effectively is challenging. But excellent time management skills are invaluable, especially when trying to manage both a full-time job and a part-time business. There are other things in life besides just work.
If you want the opportunity to experience and enjoy other activities in life, getting your time under control is imperative.
It’s all about prioritizing, focusing, and being productive, rather than simply being busy.
These time management tips will help to guarantee that your time is spent wisely:
- Focus on being productive. You can spend a lot of time actively working, yet accomplish relatively little. Being busy is about motion. Being productive is about results.
- Consider the results you are likely to see from the course of action you’re about to undertake. Are the expected results worth the time?
- Being busy all day and accomplishing nothing should be avoided by everyone, but it’s especially important for those with two jobs.
- Drop the multi-tasking. The ability to multi-task has been lauded for decades, but recent research is showing that multi-tasking is a mistake. Some research has shown that focusing on one task at a time increases productivity and performance by 100%.
- This can be the difference maker between success and failure if you’re juggling a part-time business with a full-time job. Productivity is everything. Focus on one thing until it’s time to move on to something else.
- Consider using a timer to help you focus. If a task should take 25 minutes to complete, use a timer and try to beat the clock. A simple timer can really help you stay focused.
- Have a new list of objectives and to-do list each day. Priorities and needs change from day to day. Start each day with a new list or priorities. Any items that are incomplete can be moved to tomorrow’s list, but only if they’re still priorities.
- If you find it helpful, have a list of things to do before lunch and after lunch. Breaking up the day like this can make things more manageable.
- Create the list the night before. You won’t waste time in the morning trying to plan your day. You might also find some elegant solutions to your challenges if you have the opportunity to sleep on them.
- Make a real effort to eliminate distractions and interruptions. There’s always something else that needs your attention. However, you’ll get more done if you can stick to the important tasks before allowing other things to grab your attention.
- You might want to spend the first two hours of each morning working on the most important tasks of the day before opening your email or listening to your phone messages.
- Make decisions with the time expenditure in mind. Working full-time and running a part-time business requires focusing on the time required by certain activities. Quick decision-making skills are vital.
- Many times, the second or third best solution is really the best solution if it saves time.
- Sometimes a good, quick solution is better than the best solution that is complicated and too time-consuming to implement.
- Delegate whenever possible. Whether it’s at the job or the business, delegate as much as you can. Do you insist on doing too much? Attempt to release some control and get all the help you can.
Managing a full-time job and a part-time business is challenging, but many people are able to manage both successfully. Focus on the most important tasks, minimize the distractions around you, and let others help. You’ll get more done in less time with greater results!
In The Darkness (A Short Story)
The moment Gary tippy-toed outside of his home, he just knew it was going to be a terrible day.
But Gary found out something surprising and rather embarrassing...
Gary stepped outside and knew at once that it was going to be one of those terrible days. Everything was dark and gloomy, like a thunderstorm was only moments away. But it was strange – the weatherman had said the day would be sunny.
Gary continued on to his favorite coffee shop. Inside the coffee shop, the lights were dim, as if some bulbs had burned out.
He thought, “What kind of lousy restaurant doesn’t change the light bulbs when they go out?”
Gary sat down and looked at the menu, but the dim lighting was making him more and more depressed. When the waitress came by to take his order, Gary ordered his food, but he stopped her as she started to walk back to the kitchen.
“Why don’t you guys fix some of these light bulbs? It’s so dark in here. Do you think your customers like to eat in the dark?” Gary, whose mood had gotten progressively worse since he left the house, spoke angrily and a little too loudly.
“But sir,” the waitress said, looking confused, “No bulbs are burned out here. You’re wearing sunglasses.”
Gary pulled his glasses off. It was true! He had grabbed the wrong glasses out of his dresser drawer. He apologized to her and made sure to leave a big tip.
What an eye opener! Isn’t it true that the fault we find in the world around us can often be traced back to what’s inside ourselves? It’s so easy to project our problems onto others when taking ownership of the issues would help us solve them much more quickly.
How often do we try to make a spouse or a roommate change behaviors, to no avail? We all know we can’t change others! We can encourage and persuade, but we can’t make people do anything they don’t decide for themselves to do.
Knowing what's true, we ought to be able to see how counterproductive it is to get irritated by things going on around us. We automatically think those problems are someone else’s responsibility when we already have the power to stop the irritation!
Just like Gary in the story, when we think problems belong to someone else, we spend a lot of time grumbling and complaining that those people won’t fix their issues. We go around in a dark mood and make things miserable for those around us.
Now contrast that unhappy picture with a person who takes responsibility for his own unhappiness. When things aren’t going well, he’ll stop and think about his own attitude and actions. “What is my perspective on this and in what way am I contributing to the problem?” a wiser person might ask.
Blaming others keeps us from finding the root of issues and solving difficulties. Taking responsibility and examining our weaknesses, mistakes or contributions to the problem allow us to take positive action toward improvements.
Self-reflection lets us take off the sunglasses and put on the clear lenses. Maybe there are still a few bulbs in the restaurant that need to be changed, but we’ve done everything we can do to improve the situation on our own.
Sometimes everything we can do is a whole lot, and sometimes it’s not so much. But taking ownership and moving forward always makes us happier than blaming others and waiting for them to change. Automatically blaming others is a recipe for frustration!
Self-reflection Questions:
1. Are there issues in my life where I’m blaming others for things not going well?
2. What am I doing that could be contributing to the problem?
3. Is my perspective causing my own unhappiness?
