In all industries, professions, businesses, it’s true that 98% of people do not reach their dreams.

They don’t even reach their potential.

It’s true that some people still do very nicely thank you, but they have still failed to reach what they wanted from life.

That has always puzzled me.

What is it that causes people to not get where they want in the vast majority of cases?

The answer seems to be that they stop believing in their potential.

They simply give up before they’ve got to the goal.

Sometimes they give up because they realise the path they were taking won’t get them there, so they become resigned to mediocrity instead of changing their path.

Sometimes they give up because they’ve had a setback that has caused their goal to seem further out of reach.

Sometimes they give up because it all seems too hard.

Sometimes they give up because the people around them keep telling them it won’t work.

What doesn’t work is giving up.

Here are 10 people who didn’t become successful until late in life.

• Grandma Moses (Anna Mary Robertson Moses) – Began painting professionally at 78, becoming a renowned American folk artist

• Colonel Sanders (Harland David Sanders) – Founded Kentucky Fried Chicken at 65 after receiving his first Social Security check

• Julia Child – Released her first cookbook at 61 and began her television career afterward

• Laura Ingalls Wilder – Published the first “Little House on the Prairie” book at 65

• Takichiro Mori – Left academia at 55 and became Japan’s richest man through real estate by his 60s

• Frank McCourt – Published his Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir “Angela’s Ashes” at 66

• Arianna Huffington – Founded The Huffington Post at 61, transforming it into a major media outlet

• Kathryn Joosten – Began acting at 56, winning Emmy Awards for her roles in “The West Wing” and “Desperate Housewives”

• Anna Sewell – Published her only novel, “Black Beauty,” at 57, just months before her death

• Alan Rickman – While successful in theater earlier, didn’t land his first film role until 42 and became truly internationally famous in his 60s with roles like Severus Snape

Those are not the only ones who didn’t stop working towards their potential, sometimes changing tack to get where they wanted to go.

Will you be one of these people?

Regards,
Brent.