There’s a quiet narrative that society loves to sell to anyone over 40: your best days are behind you. You’re too old to learn new tricks, you’re past your prime, and you are one short step away from being officially “washed up.”
The question is do you believe all this, or is there another you that believes the best is yet to come?
This narrative gets even louder if you’re feeling stuck in a 9-to-5 job you secretly hate. You feel that itch to make a change, but a nagging voice—and pretty much the whole of society—tells you to just be grateful for what you have and ride it out until retirement.
If that voice is in your head ask yourself this. “Do I want to do this for the next 30 years? Starting something new and exciting? That’s a young person’s game, right?”
Absolutely not! I am 62 years old, and I’m here to call bullsh*t on this societal narrative.
My name is James, and this is the story of how a life-changing event at 49 forced me to confront the twin myths of being ‘washed up’ and ‘permanently stuck’ head-on. More importantly, this is the post where I will prove to you that your age isn’t a liability you need to overcome.
It’s your ultimate, unbeatable advantage for not just building a business but, perhaps more importantly, building a business that you control.
My “Three Lives”: Proof That We Are Built to Adapt
Before I ever thought about building a business online, I lived three entirely different lives.
My first act was in the world of entertainment. For years, I was a DJ, surrounded by vinyl and nightlife. That evolved into managing pubs and nightclubs, a fast-paced world of logistics and people management.
And it was great! Who wouldn’t want that as a lifestyle?
My second act couldn’t have been more different. I fell into the corporate world, starting as a telemarketer and eventually building my own international consulting business, setting up call centers across the globe.
This was my first reinvention, and it felt good to know I was capable of such a move.
That chapter closed when I needed to return from my international travels to give more support to my family back home, so I started my third act.
I went back to school as an adult and retrained as an electrician. After qualifying, I spent two years asking experienced electricians questions I am sure they thought were completely irritating and stupid.
But that experience became the backbone of the successful contracting business I built from the ground up.
I’m not telling you all of this to brag. I’m telling you this to prove a point: just because you’re over 40, you don’t have to listen to the societal nonsense that you are a one-trick pony.
You can and should be a master of adaptation. You’ve already navigated different jobs, changing industries, and new technologies.
Reinvention isn’t a scary new skill you have to learn; it’s a muscle you’ve been building your entire life.
The Reset: When “Washed Up” Felt Real
Life has a funny way of testing that muscle. For me, that test came in May 2013. At just 49 years old, I had a heart attack.
It wasn’t just a health crisis; it was an identity crisis. In the aftermath, I lost the business I had built and my house along with it. I was forced to take a step back, to take the least stressful job I could find just to get by.
And that’s when the “washed up” narrative that society loves to sell became my reality. I was officially stuck. Or was I?
I was in a job with no future, feeling like my best days and my greatest contributions were well and truly behind me. The ambition that had driven me my whole life was gone in an instant, replaced by a quiet fear that this was it. This was how the story was going to end.
But don’t believe the hype. There is always a way out.
Why the Digital Economy Needs Our Experience
For a few years, I believed the story of “that’s it, this is my life now.” But my lifelong fascination with technology wouldn’t let it be the final word.
I started exploring the world of online business, watching countless videos and reading endless blogs. And I started to notice something.
The online world is flooded with twenty-somomethings taking selfies with their Lamborghinis (most of whom don’t own one; they hire them for a day to do a photo shoot!) and yelling about “crushing it online.”
They have energy and they understand the latest trends. But what the digital economy is desperately lacking is what people over 40 have in spades:
Patience and Perspective
We know there’s no such thing as a “get rich quick” scheme. We’ve seen enough to know that real success is built brick by brick, not by chasing shiny objects. (Although I have been guilty of this on many occasions).
Trust and Authenticity
We have decades of real-world experience. We’re not afraid to tell the truth, to admit when we don’t know something (yes, you need to ask those irritating questions), and to share our failures as openly as our successes.
Real-World Skills
A lifetime of navigating complex problems, managing difficult people, and understanding the fundamentals of how a real business works is a superpower online.
I realized that my 30+ years of diverse, real-world experience didn’t make me obsolete. It made me a unicorn. Someone who definitely still has something to offer and the energy to get it done.
And if you’re over 40, so are you. Your experience doesn’t just give you a seat at the table; it gives you the ability to build the whole damn table yourself.
Remember, it’s never too late, and it starts with education. You may not think you want to go ‘back to school,’ but you already have a lifetime of experience. And that is the greatest foundation you could ever ask for.
Welcome to Digital Honesty HQ: The HQ for Your Second Act
I created Digital Honesty HQ to be the proving ground for this very idea: the idea that by following some clear, easy-to-follow, and honesty-based education, you can start something that might well change the path of the rest of your life.
This isn’t another “guru” site run by a faceless expert, because I am not a ‘guru’ or a creative genius (far from it!). I’m just a bloke with something to share.
This is a real-time documentary of me, a 62-year-old fella, building a new business from scratch in the modern digital world.
My mission is to arm professionals like you—whether you’re over 40 or even 50—with the honest, no-nonsense strategies and modern tools needed to build your own online businesses.
Whatever you do, don’t be afraid of the jargon and the mind-boggling number of new technologies you’ll see on your journey. My job is to guide you through them, unscramble them, and provide a community where we can all benefit from those “stupid questions!”
It’s really important to me that this feels like a workshop, not a lecture hall. It’s a place where we will:
Give Honest Reviews
I will share what I am doing with the tools that work (and the ones that don’t), and you can decide for yourself if it’s right for you
Clear Strategies
The terminology for things like affiliate marketing and YouTube might be scary now, but this is the place where it will all become clear.
A Shared Journey
Ask me or others in the community questions—every question leads to another idea or solves a problem
We are proving, together, that we are not washed up. We are just getting started.
Your Second Act Starts Today. Here’s Your Blueprint
The “washed up” narrative only wins if you believe it. Your first step to proving it wrong is to get the plan. A plan is crucial, isn’t it? Sure it is, but we also need to be able to adapt and pivot in this ever-changing technological arena.
I know how overwhelming it can be to start. That’s why I’ve distilled my foundational steps into a simple, 6-page e-book: “The Digital Honesty Blueprint.”
It’s not a 100-page manual designed to confuse you; it’s a clear, simple map to get you started on the right path.
This is your permission slip to start building. Don’t wait for the perfect moment, trust me, there isn’t one! The moment is now.
Just fill in your email below to get your FREE copy of the Digital Honesty Blueprint. (Yes, it really is free!)
