We live in a world where people in their mid-20s are launching businesses. Kids are chalking out robust career plans even before turning 15. And here I am, in my mid-30s, still looking for my true calling. It brings me to a question: “Is there a right time for crafting a career?”

Well, if there is, I would want to throw away my clock and change the calendar because, by the world’s standards, I am too late.

Back in 2008, when I joined dental college, I was sure I would never pursue this career. (Why? That’s a story reserved for some other day). When I passed dental college after a grueling period of 5 long years, I wasn’t sure what I would do. I had a strong feeling against curating a career in dentistry. But a few months later, I was working at a local clinic. And, suddenly, one day, writing happened.

I started writing articles and blog posts for clients, and since then, I have been working as a ghostwriter, with dentistry long abandoned. When I look back, I find my career upsetting for many reasons. For starters, people, after working their asses off for eleven long years, manage to move forward. They grow, and with them grows their bank balance. Not that I have not grown in the last eleven years, but the growth seems nanoscopic. Plus, I don’t have a fabulous bank balance to demonstrate my successful eleven years as a ghostwriter.

Secondly, I never felt an urge to create a roadmap for my career. I wrote for my clients, got paid, and happily spent the money. That seemed enough at that time.

I was ambitious, but my ambitions were restricted. I wanted to earn to buy clothes, footwear, jewelry, and books.

Then, I got married, took a break from my not-so-prolific writing career, and, within a year, moved to Austria. I met ambitious people (my husband, most importantly), saw my younger siblings doing great in their careers, and friends establishing their dental practices.

Surfing LinkedIn just added insult to injury. When I compared my qualifications and skills to others, I felt like a tiny, negligible atom in this vast universe of super-intelligent, ambitious, hardworking crackerjacks.

But I realized that painting my world blue won’t help me. It will neither take me on exotic vacations nor fill my pockets. So, instead of sulking over the wrong career choices I made 15 years ago, I decided to make some good choices now so that after the next ten years, I don’t feel the same way when I look back.

So, I packed all my woes, worries, trepidations, and doubts in a bag and threw them in the far corners of the world. Therefore, I am left with only hope, positivity, optimism, and faith.

Here is a piece of advice from yours truly: Never think it is too late. Whether you are in your 30s, 40s, or 50s, you can give a fresh start to your career anytime you want. There is no such thing as the right time to study, make a career, get married, or start a family, for that matter.

Do not burden yourself with the expectations of the world. They might expect you to study till your early 20s, settle down till your mid-20s, and start a family before you reach 30, but they haven’t walked a mile in your shoes.

So what if you want to take up a new course after crossing 35?

So what if you want to quit your job and start your small business at 40?

It is never too late to do the right thing.