âIt is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well have not lived at all, in which case you have failed by default.â
J. K. Rowling
Quick announcement before we get into this post. To help people absolutely crush 2020, Iâm very excited to announce The Day Won Mastermind! This begins on 24th February 2020 and will be a 3-month program. Itâs designed for professionals and entrepreneurs who want to find their voice, build their tribe, and make an impact.
I want to make sure I can allocate the proper amount of time for each person, so spots are strictly limited! I'll be sharing everything I know about success, happiness, and creating a life of freedom. If you want the ultimate foundation for success in 2020, to have me work with you on your business and your personal life, and to surround yourself with people who can help you along the way, grab one of the places while you can.
There's also a special bonus for the first 10 people to join. To reserve your place, or get more info, go to The Day Won Mastermind.
Alright, back to our post!
What does the "New Year" mean to you? For most people, it's a night of partying or a chance to have a holiday. Both of those are fine because it's important to have fun, but it's useful to know that the New Year marks a complete orbiting of the Earth around the sun. Recently, more and more, I've enjoyed it as an opportunity to refocus on what's most important and chart a detailed course for the next 12 months.
This celestial significance of the New Year gives us three insights:
As we begin our list, grab a notepad and brainstorm how you can apply these into your life. If you can do that consistently, your success in 2020 is assured.
Napoleon Hill wrote that the starting point of ALL achievement is desire. In fact, he made it the very first principle of Think and Grow Rich, so that gives you an idea of just how important this step is. After all, if you donât know what your perfect destination looks like, how can you expect to end up anywhere near there?
Once youâve got that perfect destination in mindâin each area of your life thatâs important to you (download this free Success Plan Template for a step-by-step guide)âturn it into clearly defined goals that are:
As youâre preparing these goals, let your thoughts run wild, unencumbered by what others may think. On this journey to living a life on your own terms, youâre going to encounter a lot of people with their ill-informed opinions, but you must remember that the most important opinion is how you feel about yourself.
Financial freedom in particular is a huge goal for so many people, as it should be; therefore, I strongly encourage you to read this post 'How to Become a Financial Winner' to get yourself on the right track. A recent study even revealed that wealthy people live longer and in better physical health, so make it a priority for you.
Ever driven in a Ford car? Iâm sure you have. You might even have owned one. In the 109 years since it was founded, the Ford Motor Company has built more than 350 million automobiles, averaging a new car sold every 10 seconds. Its founder, Henry Ford, passed away in 1947 with a net worth of more than US $200 billion (adjusted for inflation).
Not bad for a poor, illiterate kid.
Henry Ford once said: âMy best friend is the one who brings out the best in me.â Thatâs one of my favorite quotes because seeing how your life has changed as a result of someone elseâs presence is a very clear yardstick for the value of that relationship.
Often, we feel obligated to keep associating with people just because we went to school with them, or theyâre a family friend, or maybe even a family member. But itâs important to protect your energy source, which includes understanding the following:
Over the holiday period, you mightâve bumped into some of the toxic people that made your skin crawl. Well, now is the time to replace them with someone who makes you happy and helps you succeed!
If youâre not sure where to start, join the Win the Day Facebook group and introduce yourself! Weâve got almost 400 people there just looking for ways to help others.
A big learning for me in the last few years is recognizing the full magnitude that our mental state has to the meaning we attach to a given situation. If weâre in a grumpy mood, weâre going to focus a lot more negatively about any situation presented to us; yet, if weâre in an inspired mood, weâll see the BEST in any situation.
There are mental tricks we can play to get into a positive mood, just as there are things that pull us into a negative state. What can you do? Just as we think about intent for how to structure the day, we can apply this just as readily to environmental care:
Even listening to a podcast or an audiobook once a day can help you give the constant repetition of positive materials to put you in the right head space.
This is where most well-intentioned people fall down. The absolutely essential next step after defining your goals is to BUILD them into your daily life so you know, every single day, what work you need to do and how it relates to your long-term mission.
Every year, I complete the Success Plan Template, then turn those 90-day goals into action items that then go into my calendar. After 90 days, I have another notification that goes off to do the next 90 days worth of goals and action items. What that is release yourself of stress today because you know the outcome already.
Contrast this to those who either donât set goals in the first place, or doâbut never create a strong system to actually achieve them.
Thereâs one final fail-safe measure here that you can take: When you wake up each day, write down three things youâre grateful for and three things that would make today a win. This ensures that EVERYTHING you do is with intent and positions you as the hero of your own story, rather than having to stare glumly or enviously at what everyone else is doing.
The digital age has greatly exacerbated our self-esteem. When we donât have a worthy method for self-evaluation, we look elsewhere for it, and images of âperfectâ people are thrust into our vision from all the social media platforms. This is where phrases like âIâll be happy ifâŚâ and âIâll be happy whenâŚâ become our mantra, as we attach our happiness to the success we believe others have that continues to elude us. This can be anything, from a desirable partner to a thriving business, or even having someone elseâs body.
But true happiness is not just found in the present, itâs found by being present. So enjoy being in the present, come rain, hail or shine, and say âYes!â to life more often. Just be aware that this step will be much easier to complete after youâve done the preceding four steps.
Rather than spending tens of thousands of dollars and years of your time trying to figure it out yourself, find someone who has the success you want and do what they tell you! If you join a mastermind that gives you unprecedented access with someone you admire, while allowing you to collaborate with other like-minded people, your idea of what you can achieve will increase exponentially and your journey to getting there will be so much faster.
To find a good mastermind, just make sure:
A good mastermind will give you massive amounts of structure, challenge, and accountability in all areas of your life.
__
I wish you every success and happiness in 2020!
Onwards and upwards always,
James Whittaker
PS - Remember to secure your place in The Day Won Mastermind (or schedule a call to find out if it's the right fit for you).
âYou can't build a reputation on what you are going to do.â
Henry Ford
Most people have the best of intentionsâwhy is it, then, that extraordinary success is seemingly reserved for so few people?
We all know that action is an essential ingredient to success, but there are many different types of action. Your choice determines the difference between those who keep running around in circles versus those who are able to continuously level-up.
You might have heard that the best way to predict the future is to create it. Itâs a brilliant quote.
Who has put this idea into practice?
You get the idea. There are endless examples, and Iâm sure you can think of a few yourself!
Letâs think again about the episode quote: âYou can't build a reputation on what you are going to do.â What I love about that quote is how directly it talks about the importance of purposeful action. Your reputation is built on what youâve already done. It is not built on how well you talk about what youâre going to do.
This quote is even more powerful when considered in context. In Henry Fordâs time, and weâre talking around the year 1900, horses were the primary mode of transportation. They filled the streets of every city and were used for mail, transport, and entertainment.
But they werenât perfect.
Horse dung was left all over the streets (a problem so offensive that it became an expression in itself), and when horses died they would leave behind a heavy, smelly carcass that would need at least one more horse to drag it away. They were vulnerable in bad weather. Not to mention the dozens of other complexities with having an actual animal as the engineâthe primary mode of transportation.
There had to be a better way. Alas, horses had been commonplace for so long that most people simply assumed they would be around foreverâjust like they did with Kodak, Blockbuster, and Nokia. After all, horses changed the face of warfare, revolutionized numerous other industries, and today we still use the expression âsend in the cavalry.'
Seeing the future, Ford had a dream to build a horseless carriage. His aim was to provide a product that boasted all the benefits of this dependable mode of transportation, while eliminating the problems that had caused frustration for owners, passengers, and government officials.
When hearing about Fordâs idea, everyone scoffed and said that would be impossible. If it wasnât the pipe-dream that turned them off, it was probably the fact that Ford didnât have a degree from a fancy university. In fact, not only did not Ford not attend university, he never even went to high school.
This is an interesting juncture in our story because I am assuming that everyone reading this has either owned a Ford or gone for a ride in a Ford vehicle?
So we know how the story ends.
But how was a poor, uneducated man able to completely revolutionize transportation, and in the process become one of the wealthiest and most famous people on the planet?
Ford was crystal clear about his dream, but then he realized there was one problemâhe could only do so much alone. Many people abandon their dream at that point, when the odds seem insurmountable and they start listening to the ill-informed opinions of others, and many others would have forfeited before even getting to that point.
But Ford realized that he didnât need to have all the answers himself. He used purposeful action. He surrounded himself with people who aligned with his values and got them excited in his mission. As his extraordinary journey continued, and more and more people joined the rideâall working in harmony toward a single aimâFord realized that his pie-in-the-sky dream would soon become a reality.
In the 109 years since it was founded, the Ford Motor Company has built more than 350 million automobiles, averaging a new car every 10 seconds. So enamored was Napoleon Hill with Fordâs methods that he references it profusely in Think and Grow Rich, the bestselling book of all time.
Henry Ford passed away in 1947 with a net worth of more than US $200 billion (adjusted for inflation). Not bad for a poor, illiterate kid who was even labelled âan ignorant anarchistâ by The Chicago Tribune.
To change the world, you need to:
To finish, I just want to leave you with something Barbara Corcoran told me during our interview:
âWhen I heard what [Henry] Ford did, it made me realize I didnât need to know everything. I could build an empire on someone elseâs knowledge.â
If youâre not tapping into the efforts of others, youâre going to get run-over by those who are.
Onwards and upwards always,
James Whittaker
In case you missed it:
How to Become a Financial Winner
âThe most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.â
Thomas Edison
Thereâs one element that all those who have achieved enormous success hold in high esteem: failure. Whether industry titans of old, such as Andrew Carnegie and Henry Ford, or more contemporary worldbeaters, such as Oprah Winfrey and Jeff Bezos, failure has been the catalyst to not only creating extraordinary wealth but maintaining it too.
The headline quote from Thomas Edison, one of the greatest inventors in history, was written by a man who, from the moment he set his mind to a definite chief aim, was obsessed with the goal until it became a reality.
Incredulously, before unveiling the worldâs first lightbulb for practical use, Edison went through more than 3,000 designs for light bulbs and another 6,000 tests trying to find the right material for the filament. He would go on to hold more than 1,000 patents, and his other inventionsâsuch as the motion picture camera and phonographâtransformed almost every industry on Earth. âWhen I have fully decided that a result is worth getting, I go about it, and make trial after trial, until it comes,â the American once said.
While Edisonâs obsession might seem crazy to outsiders, it was a perfectly rational state of mind to the man himself. Think about todayâs true innovators and changemakers, from Sara Blakely to Elon Musk and the late Steve Jobs: all have been described by adjectives far harsher than âcrazyâ.
Edisonâs close friend, Waltor Mallory, once visited the inventor in his workshop. Having personally observed some of the countless hours of dedication, effort and sacrifice, Mallory lamented the lack of results. With a smile, Edison quickly replied, âResults? I have gotten lots of results! I now know several thousand things that wonât work.â
That simple response sums up Thomas Edisonâs growth mindset and reveals how he became such a prolific achiever, despite not having a formal education.
Those with a growth mindset:
In contrast, those with a fixed mindset:
To win in the long-term, you must open yourself up to the prospect of losing in the short-term, or longer. Simply continuing is one of the surest paths to success, but so many people give up because they accept temporary failure as permanent defeat. This is true in ALL areas of life; in fact, you can probably think of at least one person who remains bitter despite a divorce or business hardship that occurred years prior.
If you allow yourself to be defined by how youâve been wronged or some other misfortune, youâll go through life with a chip on your shoulder and likely stay within an ever-shrinking comfort zone. However, those who keep their sights on long-term victoryâand can quickly dust themselves off when they do failâare the ones who enjoy far greater happiness and success.
Embrace failure because it means youâve tried.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos understands this better than most. âIâve made billions of failures at Amazon. Literally,â he was quoted. Further reinforcing his counterintuitive love for hardship, Bezos wrote to his shareholders, âI believe we are the best place in the world to fail (we have plenty of practice!)â But he is acutely aware that every failure increases his chance of hitting a home run, as Amazon has done with numerous innovations that catapulted the company from a simple online bookstore to, on 7 January 2019, officially becoming the worldâs most valuable company.
Even with the recent breakdown of their 25-year marriage, Bezos and his partner MacKenzie were able to quickly and amicably move on, wishing each other well, reducing any undue pressure on their four children, and calming nervous Amazon shareholders.
True innovators like Edison, Bezos, Winfrey, Jobs and Musk do not view the word âfailureâ as a negative. Rather, they view it as an omnipresent companion on the journey to achievementâa stepping stone to success. Every failure brings us closer to success, just as surrendering to adversity guarantees defeat.
In fact, the quote for todayâs episode in its entirety is: âOur greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.â
Choose to be a victor rather than a victim. Regardless of what life throws your way, promise to try just one more time.
Onwards and upwards always,
James W.
In case you missed it:
âThe Secret to Happinessâ
âThe most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.â â Thomas Edison
âIf people should take anything from my music, it should be motivation to know that anything is possible as long as you keep working at it and donât back down.â â Eminem
âAll people have fears, but the brave put down their fears and go forwardâsometimes to death, but always to victory.â â Dale Carnegie
âEvery adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.â â Napoleon Hill
âThe only easy day was yesterday.â â US Navy SEALs
âFailure is so important. We speak about success all the time. It is the ability to resist failure or use failure that often leads to greater success. Iâve met people who donât want to try for fear of failing.â â J.K. Rowling
âFall down seven times. Stand up eight.â â Proverb
âLetâs go invent tomorrow rather than worrying about what happened yesterday.â â Steve Jobs
âFailure is success in progress.â â Albert Einstein
âNever accept temporary failure as permanent defeat.â â James Whittaker
âIf your ship doesnât come in, swim out to it.â â Jonathan Winters
âFind a way or make a way.â â Elon Musk
âIf youâre not making mistakes, then youâre not doing anything. Iâm positive that a doer makes mistakes.â â John Wooden
âIâve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. Iâve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times Iâve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. Iâve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.â â Michael Jordan
âYou may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.â â Walt Disney
âAt any moment you can make a decision to change your life.â â Janine Shepherd
âFailure is a stepping stone to greatness.â â Oprah Winfrey
âIf I had listened to the naysayers, I would still be in the Austrian Alps yodeling.â â Arnold Schwarzenegger
âBelieving that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart.â â Steve Jobs
âThere are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure.â â Colin Powell
âMany of lifeâs failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.â â Thomas Edison
âFeel the fear and do it anyway.â â Susan Jeffers
âYou have to be able to accept failure to get better.â â Lebron James
âFear is the result of a lack of confidence. A lack of confidence is the result of not knowing what you can do. A lack of knowing what you can do is caused by a lack of experience. A lack of experience is caused by a lack of doing something new.â â Dale Carnegie
âMost great people have achieved their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure.â â Napoleon Hill
âThe freedom to fail is vital if youâre going to succeed. Most successful people fail time and time again, and it is a measure of their strength that failure merely propels them into some new attempt at success.â â Michael Korda
âWhether you think you can or think you canât, youâre right.â â Henry Ford
âEven if we crash and burn, and lose everything, the experience will have been worth ten times the cost.â â Steve Jobs
âDo not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.â â John Wooden
âSometimes an expensive lesson is worth every penny.â â Noel Whittaker
âItâs failure that gives you the proper perspective on success.â â Ellen DeGeneres
âSuccess is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.â â Winston Churchill
âStrength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.â â Arnold Schwarzenegger
âNothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood.â â Marie Curie
âDo the thing you fear to do and keep on doing it. That is the quickest and surest way to conquer fear.â â Dale Carnegie
âI have not failed. Iâve just found 10,000 ways that wonât work.â â Thomas Edison
âYou canât discover new oceans unless you have the courage to leave the shore.â â Anonymous
âThinking will not overcome your fear, but action will.â â W. Clement Stone
âTake a chance! All life is a chance. The person who goes farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare.â â Dale Carnegie
âRemembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.â â Steve JobsÂ
âAll is possible for the believers.â â Laird Hamilton
âAction breeds confidence and courage.â â Dale Carnegie
âIâve made billions of failures at Amazon. Literally.â â Jeff Bezos
âBe who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind donât matter and those who matter donât mind.â â Bernard Baruch
âFailure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.â â John Wooden
âFailure is an option here. If things are not failing, youâre not innovating enough.â â Elon Musk
âRight actions for the future are the best apologies for wrong ones in the past.â â Tyron Edwards
âYou can conquer almost any fear if you will only make up your mind to do so. For remember, fear doesnât exist anywhere except in the mind.â â Dale Carnegie
âNever let the fear of striking out get in your way.â â Babe Ruth
âBravery is the solution to regret.â â Robin Sharma
âRepeated failure will toughen your spirit and show you with absolute clarity how things must be done.â â Robert Greene
âGod, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.â â Reinhold Niebuhr (Serenity Prayer)
âKnow your enemy, and know yourself, and youâll never be in peril.â â Sun Tzu
âThe struggle ends when the gratitude begins.â â Neale Donald Walsch
âEverything you want is on the other side of fear.â â Jack Canfield
âI believe we [Amazon] are the best place in the world to fail (we have plenty of practice!).â â Jeff Bezos
âThe victim mindset dilutes the human potential. By not accepting personal responsibility for our circumstances, we greatly reduce our power to change them.â â Steve Maraboli
âTry and enjoy yourself. Because, actually, lifeâs pretty good.â â Elon Musk
âIf you want to conquer fear, donât sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.â â Dale Carnegie
âThe biggest risk is not taking any risk. In a world thatâs changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.â â Mark Zuckerberg
âYou canât have courage without fear.â â Jocko Willink
âThe only thing we have to fear is fear itself.â
Franklin D. Roosevelt
None of us are immune to changeâit is one of the great constants of life, alongside death and taxes. As people age, they often become set in their ways and increasingly resist challenge. Some start to feel old at 18, others at 80âthere is no consensus. Regardless, if allowed to fester, this mindset erodes even the brightest and most enthusiastic among us.
For those worried about the future, I have some good news: age is the one number that doesnât matter.
Fear of old age can be seen when people begin to renounce their abilities as age increases. You have probably heard someone, whether a parent, grandparent or even yourself, blame their age for not participating in an activity. Knowing what we know about the power of the mind, perhaps welcoming a new milestoneâsuch as retiring from a career, selling a business, or celebrating a birthdayâwould be better viewed as an opportunity to seek new challenges or grander goals.
Those who feel increasingly despondent as their age ticks over use it to justify staying within their ever-shrinking comfort zone, but countless studies have proven that keeping the mind and body active considerably increases not only longevity but quality of life, too.
For example, Johanna Quaas is a regular competitor on the amateur gymnastics circuit in Germany. The 92-year-old continues to dazzle spectators with her strength, dexterity and mobility, performing somersaults, headstands and cartwheels at will. On the connection between body and mind, Quaas believes, âIf you are fit, it is easier to master life.â
Similarly, after the sudden death of his wife, Englishman Thomas Lackey (below) decided to walk along the wing of an airplane to raise money for cancer charities. Full of vigor after his first effort, Lackey continued his wing-walking career well into his nineties, breaking numerous world recordsâincluding standing atop a prop plane for 40 minutes, despite being 94 and wheelchair-boundâand raising $2 million dollars for charity.
French woman Jeanne Louise Calment, the longest living human on record, continued to enjoy cycling beyond her 100th birthday. She eventually passed away aged 122. And just last month, 91-year-old John Carter made the news for his love of doing backflips off the high diving board.
Quaas, Lackey, Calment and Carter did not listen when people told them they couldnât do something. Instead, they viewed their age, wisdom and experience as a blessing, warding off fear with prompt and decisive action.
In the immortal words of Mark Twain: âWrinkles should merely indicate where the smiles have been.â Those who repeatedly tell themselves theyâre too old are the ones who actually are.
Onwards and upwards always,
James W.
PS â Join my VIP community AND get a free bonus from Think and Grow Rich: The Legacy (instant download).
Mobile phone salesman Paul Potts was 36 when he auditioned for Britainâs Got Talent. His unorthodox music choice and everyman image struck an instant chord with the public, paving the way for his debut album to reach #1 in 13 countries. His first audition has since accumulated more than 177 million views on YouTube.
âI just wandered on and did my thing, treated it like it was the last performance Iâd ever doâwhich, had it gone badly, could have been the case.â â Paul Potts
Fashion designer Vera Wang only became an independent bridal wear designer at 40. Today, she is regarded as one of the worldâs leading fashion designers, having made gowns for Michelle Obama, Ivanka Trump and Chelsea Clinton and amassing a personal fortune of $630 million.
âDonât be afraid to take time to learn. Itâs good to work for other people. I worked for others for 20 years. They paid me to learn.â â Vera Wang
American businesswoman Robin Chase was 40 when, on a break from work to be with her children, she decided to launch a car-sharing company. In 2013, Zipcar was bought by Avis for USD $500 million in cash. Chase was even listed among the 100 Most Influential People by Time magazine.
âYou have to recognize failure whenever it happens and look it straight on. When the evidence says that youâre wrong, you have to be willing to relinquish even your most deeply held beliefs.â â Robin Chase
American comic book writer Stan Lee was 41 when he published Spider-Man for the first time, which is now regarded as the gold standard in the modern superhero genre; today, Spider-Man films boast more than $5 billion in box office receipts. Lee recently passed away aged 95, but continued to be heavily involved in the publishing and film industries until his last days, even appearing in 2018 film Venom.
âWith great power comes great responsibility.â â Stan Lee
Hollywood actor Samuel L. Jackson didnât get his big break until 43, when he appeared in the Spike Lee film Jungle Fever. Today, Jackson has appeared in more than 100 films and is ranked as the highest all-time box office star, averaging more than $70 million per film and totaling more than $12 billion at the box office.
âThe best advice that was given to me was that I had to be 10 times smarter, braver and more polite to be equal. So I did.â â Samuel L. Jackson
American innovator ÂHenry Ford was 45 when he created the Model T, changing the automotive world forever. He successfully sued The Chicago Tribune for $1 million after they printed a story labeling him âignorantâ despite his enormous success and willingness to improve the conditions and wages of his workers.
âMy best friend is the one who brings out the best in me.â â Henry Ford
Clothing manufacturer Jack Weil was 45 when he launched classic western brand Rockmount Ranch Wear. He maintained the CEO position until he passed away aged 107 as the oldest working CEO in the United States.
âThe west is not a place. Itâs a state of mind.â â Jack Weil
Stand-up comedian and voice artist Rodney Dangerfield was 46 when caught his big break on The Ed Sullivan Show, more than three decades after he first started performing stand-up. That one performance, as a last-minute replacement for another act, became a surprise hit and catapulted the aspiring entertainer to industry legend.
âMy wife and I were happy for 20 years. Then we met.â â Rodney Dangerfield
Susan Boyle was 47 when she appeared on Britainâs Got Talent as a tribute to her mother. A rousing performance led to enormous popularity, and her album became the UKâs bestselling debut of all time, catapulting her to superstardom.
âThere are enough people in the world who are going to write you off. You donât need to do that to yourself.â â Susan Boyle
Taiwanese-Japanese inventor Momofuku Ando was 48 when he invented instant noodles. His most famous product, Cup Noodles, sparked global demand. Ando passed away in 2007 at the age of 96, while his products have surpassed more than 100 billion servings.
âPeace will come to the world when the people have enough to eat.â â Momofuku Ando
Charles Darwin wasnât always regarded for his views on evolution. In fact, his first career path was physician, but he switched when he realized he couldnât stomach the sight of blood. At 50, he published On the Origin of Species, whichâdespite its contradictory views with the scientific community at the timeâis now considered the foundation of evolutionary biology.
âIt is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.â â Charles Darwin
Chef Julia Child was 50 before writing her first cookbook, which brought French cuisine to the American public. Until passing away in 2004 aged 91, Child was regarded as a culinary pioneer with an acclaimed career as a celebrity chef, author and television personality. She was also a recipient of both the French Legion of Honor and the US Presidential Medal of Freedom.
âThe only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking youâve got to have a what-the-hell attitude.â â Julia Child
NASA researcher Jack Cover was 50 when he invented the Taser stun gun. As a non-lethal weapon for law enforcement, the device is credited with saving more than 100,000 lives and is in use with more than 15,000 law enforcement and military agencies around the world.
âLet me figure out something better than shooting people.â â Jack Cover
Practicing attorneys Tim and Nina Zagat were both 51 when they published their first collection of restaurant reviews. Starting out as a guide to New York restaurants based on opinions of friends, the Zagat brand quickly became a full-time business rather than a hobby. In 2011, the company was bought by Google for $151 million.
âPeople are looking for different things at different times, and we empowered them to make their own decisionsâto make choices that were the right ones for them.â â Nina Zagat
Milkshake salesman Ray Kroc was 53 when he partnered with the owners of McDonaldâs, buying the company from them six years later. Kroc revolutionized the restaurant industry and passed away with a net worth of $600 million.
âItâs better to be green and growing than ripe and rotting.â â Ray Kroc
Economics professor Taikichiro Mori was 55 when he quit to become a real estate investor. In 1992, the Japanese businessman was listed as the wealthiest person on the planet, with a net worth of USD $13 billion (double that of Microsoft founder Bill Gates).
âI guess I am called the worldâs richest man, but that doesnât necessarily do anything for me.â â Taikichiro Mori
American restaurateur Harland Sanders was 62 when he franchised the first Kentucky Fried Chicken, modelled after the food served at his popular Kentucky service station. The company rapidly expanded and in 1964, aged 73, Sanders sold it for $2 million ($16 million in todayâs dollars), becoming a salaried brand ambassador.
âThereâs no reason to be the richest man in the cemetery.â â Harland Sanders
After losing everything in the 1929 stock market crash, former teacher Laura Ingalls Wilder was 65 when her first Little House book was published, inspired by her childhood adventures. They soon became literary classics, and the basis for TV show Little House on the Prairie, selling more than 60 million copies in more than 100 countries.
âHome is the nicest word there is.â â Laura Ingalls Wilder
After arthritis made embroidering difficult, former housekeeper Anna Robertson was 78 when she first began painting. In 1949, President Harry S. Truman presented âGrandma Mosesâ with an award for outstanding accomplishment to art. She died in 1961, aged 101, and was memorialized by President John F. Kennedy.
âLife is what we make it. Always has been, always will be.â â Grandma Moses
In 2013, Yuichiro Miura, at 80 years old, became the oldest person to climb Mt Everest. Incredibly, the Japanese alpinist has also skied down the highest mountain on all seven continents and was featured in the Academy Award-winning documentary The Man Who Skied Down Everest.
âItâs important to have a dream, no matter how old you are.â â Yuichiro Miura
Former pilot Gladys Burrill was 86 when she ran a marathon for the first time. Nicknamed the âGladyatorâ, Burrill was recognized by Guinness World Records as the oldest female marathon finisher after completing the Honolulu Marathon in 9:53, aged 92.
âJust get out there and walk or run. I like walking because you can stop and smell the roses, but itâs a rarity that I stop.â â Gladys Burrill