Is It Too Late to Reinvent Yourself? What I’ve Learned at 79

When people hear the word reinvention, they sometimes imagine making a dramatic change.

Starting a new career. Moving across the country. Completely changing their life.

At 79, I don’t think reinvention has to mean any of those things.

Sometimes reinvention is much simpler.

It can mean changing a habit that’s no longer working. Trying something you’ve always wondered about. Learning how to use a new piece of technology. Taking a trip you’ve been putting off. Finding a hobby. Spending more time with people you enjoy.

Or simply deciding that you want the next few years of your life to be a little different from the last few.

You’re Not Starting Over

One of the advantages of making changes later in life is that we’re not starting from scratch.

We bring decades of experience with us.

We’ve made good decisions and bad ones.

We’ve had successes and disappointments.

We’ve learned what we’re good at, what we enjoy, and probably a few things we’d rather never do again.

That’s valuable.

When I was younger, I didn’t always know which direction I wanted to go. At 79, I understand myself much better.

That doesn’t mean I have everything figured out.

Far from it.

But I have a much better idea of what matters to me.

Reinvention Can Be Small

I think this is where people sometimes make things too complicated.

You don’t have to change your entire life.

Pick one thing.

Maybe you’d like to become more active.

Maybe you’d like to get your finances a little better organized.

Maybe you want to learn something new.

Maybe you’d like to reconnect with an old friend.

Maybe there’s somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit.

Or maybe you simply want to make your everyday life more enjoyable.

Start there.

A small change that improves your life is still a change worth making.

I’ve Had to Learn New Things Too

Starting this website has been a reinvention for me.

I’ve had to learn things about websites, online security, artificial intelligence, social media, and technology that I certainly wasn’t thinking about years ago.

Some of it has been enjoyable.

Some of it has been frustrating.

And I’ve made plenty of mistakes along the way.

But I’m still learning.

That’s important to me because I don’t want to reach a certain birthday and decide there is nothing left for me to learn or try.

Age Can Actually Help

There are some things that become more difficult as we get older. There’s no point pretending otherwise.

But age also gives us something valuable: perspective.

We know how quickly time passes.

We know that most problems eventually get worked out.

And many of us aren’t nearly as concerned about impressing other people as we once were.

That can give us the freedom to ask a very simple question:

What would I enjoy doing now?

Not what should I be doing.

Not what would impress somebody else.

What would make my life a little better?

You Don’t Need a Five-Year Plan

At our age, I don’t think everything needs to become a major project.

You don’t need to map out the next five years before taking the first step.

Try something.

See how it goes.

If you enjoy it, continue.

If you don’t, try something else.

There’s nothing wrong with changing your mind.

After all these years, we’ve earned that privilege.

I’ve also written about why I believe your 70s can be better than you expected. Getting older has surprised me in some very good ways.

So, Is It Too Late?

I can’t tell anyone else what the next chapter of their life should look like.

But I can tell you what I believe from my own experience.

At 79, I’m still trying things.

I’m still learning.

I’m still changing my mind.

I’m still making mistakes.

And I’m still discovering things I enjoy.

To me, that’s what reinvention really means.

It isn’t throwing away the life you’ve already lived.

It’s taking everything you’ve learned from that life with you into whatever comes next.

And as long as we’re still curious about what comes next, I don’t think we’re finished.

— Gary Davis