Beyond the Timeline: Redifining success at any age.
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By Omolola Olakunri
We are born into timelines we never consented to.
From an early age, we’re told to “make hay while the sun shines.”
The sun—symbol of strength and vitality—is used to usher us into a rigid mold of early achievement.
Rise early. Succeed fast.
Because if you miss the train in your thirties or forties, you’re stranded—left behind like some kind of secular Rapture.
But doesn’t the sun rise again in the East, and set in the West—every single day?
Bringing with it new light, new chances, new seasons?
The Myth of a “Productive Window”
We’re sold a timeline like it’s law:
0–25: Education and self-discovery
26–50: Work, marriage, legacy
51+: Consolidation, 60+: Retirement.
Passing the baton.
Society hands this down like it’s the Rosetta stone—sacred and immutable. But what if it’s the greatest scam of all?
Sanctifying the Hustle: When Spirituality Becomes a Prison.
Religious institutions—especially the Church—have not just accepted these timelines. They’ve anointed them.
They spiritualize hustle.
Wrap destiny in deadlines.
If you’re not “successful” by 45, you must be:
Out of alignment.
Wasting purpose.
Blocking blessings with hidden sin.
Suddenly, deliverance becomes a race to recover “the years the cankerworm has eaten”—as if you’ve lost, rather than grown.
As if divine timing is bound by human calendars.
This isn’t just toxic theology.
It’s a prison of the mind.
The Myth of “Too Late”
So many brilliant minds die silent deaths—not for lack of talent, but because they believed the lie:
It’s too late.
The mother, now free, afraid to dream.
The pensionable father, shrinking from his own ideas, fearing ridicule.
Because the world has conditioned us to think in timeframes, not timelessness.
How many have stood at the edge of a new dream—at 60, 65, 70—and turned away, convinced they missed their train?
But the real theft isn’t of time.
It’s of possibility.
Of hope.
Of unbirthed ideas and unseen light.
Here’s What They Don’t Tell You:
Michael Otedola became Governor of Lagos State at age 65.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became President of Liberia at 65
Grandma Moses began painting at 75
Peter Roget published the first Thesaurus at 73
Nelson Mandela became President at 75
Colonel Sanders started KFC at 65
Benjamin Franklin signed the U.S. Constitution at 81
Toni Morrison won the Nobel Prize at 62
Frank McCourt published Angela’s Ashes at 66
“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” — George Eliot
Your timeline is yours alone.
Success must never be dictated by society.
As long as there is diligence and hope, it is never too late.
Mastery Over Self
He who masters himself, masters the universe.
Our true calling is self-mastery.
Without it, we become shadows—defined only by what society praises.
But when we own our pace, our rhythm, our story—then the world gets to witness something real.
The Courage to Disbelieve.
It takes raw, defiant courage to reject the timeline.
To say:
“My time is now, even if the world doesn’t see it.”
To believe that the years spent healing, growing, surviving, serving—were not wasted—but planted.
Sowing seasons of wisdom.
“I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.” — Carl Jung
Even Abraham, the biblical patriarch, dared to believe.
“Against hope, he believed in hope…”
Not looking at the deadness of Sarah’s womb or the limits of his body—but at the One who promised.
That kind of faith birthed nations.
The Trap of Comparison
Most of us aren’t envious of success.
We’re confused by it.
We celebrate child prodigies—Zuckerberg, Davido—and silently ask:
“God, did you forget me?”
We clap. We smile. We pray.
But underneath, fear brews:
“Am I too late?”
Chronos time versus Kairos time? The battle of the timelines?
But for every one prodigy, there are ten late bloomers.
Your dream has no expiry date.
The clock does not define you.
“Don’t compare your chapter 40 to someone else’s chapter 4.”
Yakubu Gowon became Nigeria’s Head of State at 32.
Muhammadu Buhari returned as President in his 70’s.
Different seasons.
Different callings.
Same world.
In Conclusion:
Reject the tyranny of timelines.
Your journey is valid, even if it looks nothing like the world’s checklist.
Your pace is sacred.
And your timeline? Divine.
Keep going.
Out of time, the world may whisper. Not even close, you reiterate.!!!
About Us
Write Affairs was created in June 2024 as an extension of Quintessential Strategies Limited (QSL) to meet the growing demand for expert writing services.
Absolutely true! Once there’s life, there’s hope. It’s never too late too aim high, once one still has the breath of life.