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. 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.
Admit what you want
The first stage of the process is accepting what you want to achieve. "I grew up in south London and it wasn't the sort of area where people become novelists," says Fiona Leitch, 56. She dreamed of becoming a screenwriter until she reworked a script into her first novel at the age of 48. She has just published her 10th mystery novel. To realise your ambitions, she says, you first have to "admit to yourself that is what you want to do."
Keep it to yourself at first
Nola Bliss, 77, who lives in Western Australia, found success in her 70s as a standup comedian, performing to 500-strong crowds. "I call myself professional because I have been paid, but it wouldn't be enough to keep a flea alive," says Bliss, who used to work in hospitality.
What is crucial is keeping your plan to yourself, she says. "Don't tell anybody what you're going to do, because they'll try and tell you that you can't. Just get on and do it. Don't say: 'Do you think this is a good idea?' Or 'I was thinking of taking up carpentry'. No, nothing." This will stop people from trying to dissuade you.
"Feel the fear and do it anyway," says Bliss. "What's the worst that can happen? You find you don't like it and you stop? But at least you won't die thinking: 'I wish I'd done that.'"
"If you fail, other people won't even notice," 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 "you know that it all goes into the river of life and life keeps going."
Start from what you already have
If it isn't obvious what your second act could be, look for something you're 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: "If you want to take up knitting, knit something large, not a pair of booties."
Count your experience as an asset
Steven Taylor, 73, had a varied career, but is most proud to have recently completed a PhD, a goal he had meant to achieve in his 20s. When he went back to university in his mid-60s, he was by far the oldest person there, but "the 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." He also felt he was "intellectually very curious, because I'd been starved of that stuff for 40 years."
Don't mourn the years you lost
At certain points, you may have responsibilities that mean you have to neglect your aspirations, but this doesn't mean it will last forever, says Leitch. "When I had my son in 2003, I stopped writing completely. Then I went back to work, and I was doing part-time jobs, I was a cleaner, I worked in a contact lens factory, that I could do around school times. It wasn't until he was about 10 that I really got back into writing regularly."
Start small, then let it grow
"Sometimes a simple idea can be a very successful business," says Shashi Aggarwal, who established a spice business in her seventh decade after years of selling other people's products in shops she ran with her husband. "I was itching to do something myself." Her son suggested she sell the spice mixes she made at home. "I said: 'Who would want to buy my spices?'" Her products are now stocked at 600 shops around the country.
"You could try your idea, start small, then gradually it might grow bigger. If you don't try, you'll never know," she says. "People say I am mad to be working at 75, but I enjoy every bit of what I do."
"Age is a state of mind," as Bliss puts it. A second career will "keep you alive, keep you young, keep you interesting."