This is a guest article from author and copywriter Nick Usborne. Learn more about goal setting from Nick at Goal Setting Rituals.

Do you remember those dreams you once had and the goals you set?

This article is for anyone over the age of about 35. But the age group I’m really thinking of is 45 plus.

So here’s the question again, expanded a little…

Back when you were in your twenties, do you remember the career or business dreams you had? Do you recall the goals you set for yourself?

At the time they probably felt achievable. You didn’t think you were being particularly unrealistic or overly optimistic. You had dreams and goals, and they were big and marvelous. As you looked into the future you saw some wonderful things. A lot of hard work, but a beautiful outcome.

And then, for one reason or another, “life got in the way”.

Life can “get in the way” in all kinds of ways. A sickness. A business setback. Costs and expenses you hadn’t anticipated.

Even the perfectly normal and natural process of raising a family can put a brake on your dreams. With a family to support you might find your plans overly risky.

Has this happened to you? Do you remember some of those dreams? The things you were going to achieve?

I’m asking because we sometimes feel it is too late.

Once a dream has slipped through our fingers we often feel that the moment has passed.

With adulthood, children, aging parents and a host of other responsibilities and concerns, it’s all too easy to stick to the straight, narrow, dependable and reasonable road.

I get that. I understand those concerns. They are legitimate.

But here is something I have been feeling myself recently. I have been feeling the edges of those dreams coming back into view. I sense a flicker. A possibility.

My dreams today are not exactly as they were twenty or thirty years ago. I have changed, and so has the world.

But my dreams today are as big as the ones I once had. And when I look closely, they are not so very different. There are still some common goals and values woven in there.

Can I achieve them? Do I have time?

Well, if I consider the first 20 years of my life as being devoted to childhood and education…then right now, at the grand age of 51, I’m only about half way through my adult life.

Do I have time to set some new goals and pursue some big dreams?

You bet I do.

Find out how you can set goals effectively with my guide, Goal Setting Rituals…