You're never too old...and that's not just rhetoric.

From personal experience, I can tell you that this is absolutely true. At 35 I pivoted from a career in computers and game design to teaching. At 40 I went into consulting and brand management. At 47 I became a distiller. I don't see myself ever leaving, but if I did, I have no doubt I would be able to do well in another field.

Look, the happiest people are ones who love what they do and are challenged every day they go into work. Thing is, passions change. What gets us out of bed one day may become a drag the next. In that case, it makes complete sense to try something different.

I bring with me to every job a different perspective than someone who has made this their life. In teaching, I had a decade of real life experience I was able to contribute. In consulting, I had worked pretty much every job one could, and I was able to apply that knowledge to help small start ups. Woking for a distillery, I bring years and years of technical knowledge, the ability to do presentations from my teaching experience, and my contributions to our brand from my time consulting.

No, it's not always easy. If you're competing against some young twenty something with a degree, you're going to have to work hard to convince people that you would be a good fit. Thing is, years o experience have taught you how to work harder than the next person. To put in the hours, and do your job to the best of your ability.

I would also point out that work ethic is something employers are desperate for. In the IT field, for example, someone with real work experience always had more appeal to me, as an employer, than someone with a degree and no history of working. That won't always be the case, but would you really want to work somewhere where hard work wasn't valued and recognized?

Just go for it. Don't spend decades working jobs you hate.