Is it Ever Too Late to Succeed?

Just started reading Ray Kroc's Grinding It Out: The Making of Mcdonald's, which set me thinking if it's ever too late for someone to succeed. I'm sure that as we get older, we feel that we shouldn't continue to strive hard and settle into our place in life, but there are many examples of people that have been able to find success at a later age in life

Colonel Sanders, Henry Ford and Ray Kroc, just to name a few are examples of people that have been able to succeed later on in life, after 40 where people start to slow down in their careers, these people were still driving ahead and built great businesses with an impact on the rest of the world. Imagine a world without fast food giants KFC and McDonald's and without the mass production ideas set about by Ford.

One thing that struck me while reading the book (or at least the front part of it) was the willingness of Ray Kroc to jump into new businesses when he saw a good opportunity and his willingness to work hard to make it succeed even as he grew older. Maybe some parts are exaggerated, it is an autobiography, but the parts on him changing into different industries that have little relation to each other is still impressive.

When he signed a deal with the McDonald brothers to set up franchise restaurants, he was already 52 and had health problems, but he was still eager to start the McDonald's and thought that he was still "green and growing" and that the best was still ahead of him.

This shows that power of mind over body. While as we age, we will want to start slowing down, but keeping active and having a young mental age is key to allow us to continue striving to succeed. So don't think that your best days are behind you just because you have crossed a certain age.

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