Regardless of what stage of your life you are at right now, it is never too late to pursue and live your dream. It is never too late to make positive changes in the way that you live. Many of us have regrets about the things we should have done differently in our lives when we were younger. "If only I had..." has become an all too familiar mantra repeating itself in our minds. As the years tick by, if we don't begin to make steps towards positive changes, discouragement often sets in and we begin to feel that it is too late. This is an absolute lie! It is never too late to make positive changes and begin to move closer to whatever our dreams may be. Dreams may be as simple as getting fit or cleaning out and organizing your home to as big as starting your own company that you have always dreamed of owning. Especially now, as many people are living longer and more vital lives well into their senior years, a later start is much more plausible. Don't let yourself feel older than you are. Do not listen to people who act as if they are over the hill in their 50's or 60's...or even 70's for that matter. You are as young as you perceive yourself to be! People like that can be a very negative influence and quite likely will bring you down. My mother was an avid storyteller during her life and had always dreamed of writing a book of her short stories. Well, she accomplished that goal and wrote her first book at 85 years young! 

Remember, you are not stuck permanently in the life you have now, even if it often feels that way. We may not be able to change our lives in any way that we want in the blink of an eye, that would be unrealistic. Most people have limits in many areas of their lives and change will take a little bit of perseverance and effort, but it will be well worth it. Everyone can start with baby steps and begin to move toward goals immediately. What about making a small change in an area that has been bugging you? From that small change you will begin to gain confidence and like building a wall one brick at a time, those small changes will construct a foundation that will make you feel positive, energized and hopeful! Bigger and better changes will surely follow. Start by asking yourself - What is one small step I can take right now to get started? Have you always wanted to do something but felt that it was overwhelming and daunting? What about taking a step and making one small change? I find that the hardest time for me is thinking about wanting to do something and not taking that first step. The feeling that something is too big or scary or difficult is one of the most common things to hold people back from taking any action at all. A fear-like paralysis. I find that once I actually break through the inertia and trepidation and actually start, I feel better almost immediately. It may feel slow or awkward  when you take that first step but it's a start and you can build upon it, fine tune it and develop it until it becomes something good.

Here's an example of something that I recently experienced. My master bedroom walk-in closet is very large and actually pretty nice but it had never been really well organized or set up in an effective way. OK, to put it bluntly, it was a disaster. Well, the disorganization of this closet drove me nuts for years until I finally recently decided that I had had enough. I started with small steps and bought some attractive and functional clothing, accessory and shoe storage systems. Then I tackled one box of clothing, then another and so on...before I knew it I was actually enjoying my daily closet adventures and eventually it came out fabulously. Try not to get stuck in planning, or thinking that you will get started tomorrow. Get the ball rolling instead by just taking one small and practical step towards what you want. Think about what you really want to change. The closet example was one type of situation; but as I said earlier, many of us have far more overwhelming and larger changes to make. For example, if you have always wanted to be more computer literate but really don't know where to start, carve out an hour of time to get on the phone and make some calls to local colleges and just see what they are offering. It will feel great! As far as what things in your own life you would like to work on, take a few days to really give it some thought. I would recommend writing everything down and if there is more than one thing, make a detailed list.

Lastly, if you have several things that you would like to work on it's usually best to prioritize and then focus on just one at a time to start. Spreading yourself too thin almost always leads to failure because life tends to get in the way. You probably won’t have the time and energy to change several things at once even though you may start out thinking that you can. Remember that it is never too late to change your life for the better. You don't need to take huge steps in order to change your life. Making even the smallest changes to your lifestyle can make a big difference to your overall happiness in life!