- Sylvester Stallone, deli counter attendant. After getting no career traction as an actor in his 20s, Stallone attacked his 30s like any 5'3 man should: He wrote a movie where he was an all-American hero with unbelievable success in sports.
That movie was "Rocky"... he banged out the "Rocky" screenplay in three days, in between working at a deli counter and as a movie theater usher... and it launched his career with an Academy Award for Best Picture.
- Andrea Bocelli, lawyer. He'd loved music and singing his whole life... but didn't really see (no pun intended) it as a career possibility. So, after school, he got a law degree at the University of Pisa. At age 30 he was working as a lawyer and moonlighting in a piano bar for fun and extra cash. He didn't catch a break as a singer until 1992, at age 34.
- Martha Stewart, stockbroker. When she was 30, Martha Stewart was a stockbroker, no doubt learning all about finance and the ethics involved therein. Two years later she and her husband purchased a beat-down farmhouse in Connecticut... she led the restoration... transitioned into a domestic lifestyle... and parlayed that into her evil, evil career.
- Mao Tse-Tung, elementary school principal. At age 30, Mao was involved in communism... he was a young star of the Chinese Communist Party... but didn't realize it could be a career. (Probably didn't see communism as being very lucrative...?)
Instead, he was working as the principal of an elementary school. Where, no doubt, hall passes were decadent. Four years later he started a communist group that eventually became the Red Army and put him in power.
Julia Child, government spy. Absolutely the wrong career. At age 30, Child wasn't cooking... she was working for the U.S. government as a spy. She went on clandestine missions to China and Sri Lanka (which, at the time, was called Ceylon) to get intelligence documents to agents in the field. She didn't enter cooking school until age 36.
How it took until now to make a movie about her life (it comes out in like a week, with Meryl Streep) is mind blowing. They made a movie about the life of MC Hammer. They made a sitcom out of the Geico cavemen. I mean... someone bought the rights to make a movie out of "Where's Waldo?" You're telling me Waldo's more interesting than female spy-turned-TV cooking superstar? It's "Alias" meets "Top Chef"! Just because Waldo traveled to a bunch of exotic places where he managed to mingle with lots of other people wearing deceptive red-and-white striped shirts doesn't make him movie-worthy.
- James Joyce, singing. By 30, Joyce was writing... just not getting published. So to make ends meet he reviewed books, taught and, weirdly, made a lot of money thanks to his gorgeous tenor singing voice. (He was also a raging alcoholic, which isn't financially lucrative until you become an author and can parlay those drunken antics into stories. Ask Hemingway. Or James Frey, sort of.)
Joyce finally got his first book, "Dubliners", published at age 32, which launched his career as, arguably, one of the most successful authors of all time.
So I've decided to co-opt his style and will write the next point on this list completely in the manner of James Joyce.
- Colonel Sanders, tons of blue collar jobs. When yes Harland Sanders was turning 30 yes he was still yes switching from one yes career yes to yes another yes: Steamboat pilot (yes!), insurance salesman (yes!), farmer (yes!), railroad fireman (yes!), gigolo (no!). He didn't yes start cooking chicken until he was 40 yes and yes, yes, yes didn't start franchising until, yes, age 65.
Michael Jordan, baseball player At age 30, Michael Jordan was the biggest star in the world, had just led the Chicago Bulls to three straight NBA championships... and promptly quit to become a minor league baseball later.
This remains one of the most suspicious moves any celebrity has made in our lifetimes. If this happened today, the Internet would actually blow up with people debating the real reason why Jordan quit. The NBA secretly suspended him for gambling but couldn't afford to admit he'd gambled on their games? Scottie Pippen took photos of him having gay sex with Bill Wennington and threatened to blackmail Jordan unless he stepped away? He killed a man? It's all equally plausible (especially the Wennington thing).
Anyway, I included this on the list because it shows that even Michael Jordan was still searching for the right career at age 30.
- Rodney Dangerfield, aluminum siding salesman. He started doing stand-up at age 19... then gave up on it in his mid-20s.. He started working as an acrobatic diver (true... and wow, I never realized that was the influence for the Triple Lindy)... and then as an aluminum siding salesman. He didn't start getting back into comedy until he was 40.
- Harrison Ford, carpenter. When Ford was 30, he starred in "American Graffiti"... which was a huge hit. But he got paid a pittance for acting in it, decided he was never going to make it as an actor, and quit the business to get back into the more financially dependable world of construction.
Four years later, he met up with George Lucas again (for those who don't know, Lucas directed "Graffiti") and Lucas cast him as Han Solo.
- Jesus, carpenter. At age 30, Jesus finally stopped doing carpentry and started performing miracles. See, Harrison Ford and Jesus have more in common than you'd think.
Days back I had written my perspective on my Goals in life, my career in Wake up. I was confused on what I was doing, when will I realize my dreams, have I overgrown the age to realize them, can I still make it? All these questions created and do create a ruckus in my head whenever I think about it. Is it only me who has these thoughts, are there others who think about when is the right time to do something that one really likes doing, today , one year after, some day, never? I stumbled upon this blog of Sam Greenspan <> which revealed 11 people who made a career changing move in their 30's. 30 might sound a bit old for many who might never take up the challenge at this age, they would rather start at 25 or early 20's. In India 30's means you are married settled with a kid or two and are looking at buying a house or other stuff which means no more risk taking. People are content at 30's, but in this writeup the author takes the example of 11 people who did a U turn at 30's. Read it as an inspiration if you intend to do something later and are confused when should I start. Also m linking a colleagues reflection on When is the right time.
|
This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 10, 2010 and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
6 comments:
its never late jo...ur lif ehas just begun...till now it was all trial n error !! :)
Well... good to know that I have such illustrious company... and since I am only getting closer to 30 by the minute, I hope my miracle happens soon too..!!!
I think its about making the decision as someone said on my blog ... I know few ppl who have taken the decision and are moving forward, with the thoughts that even if we fail we would be satisfied that we tried :)
I can tell you one thing for sure Joe...till you (as in anyone) is lyin inside the coffin...nothing is for sure buddy...life can change at 8, 20, 30 40 or even at 90..but then thats the best part..who wants to live a dull and predictable life? The fun is in enjoyin everything that comes your way hurdles or success and moving on as if you were born today...always remember you werent born here for timepass...we all have things to do...let that inspire you to keep going...
I'm very glad to have stumbled upon your blog. I'm in my early 30's and about to make a U-turn and embark on a journey down the path that I've always wanted. It looks uncertain (as I've been told), but then again, life...is uncertain. If we don't make that U-turn, we'll never know what we could achieve.
dear Elaine
thnks
first of all its a really brave decision u r going to mke n i believe tht u ll succeed in whtevr u r trying to achieve
carpe diem :)
do share wid us your success story later