[ilamont]

I recently met someone who completely reinvented his career in his 40s, going from one very skilled artistic field (professional classical musician in NYC) to a specialized technical/construction trade in which he had absolutely no background when he started.

He said he didn't like the uncertainty of being a musician, which required constant auditions, as well as the ephemeral nature of the performances.

He started taking masonry classes, worked up to a certain grade in the specialized subfield, and pretty quickly started getting jobs. He now has more offers of work than he can take on, and is a qualified instructor.

He's 70, and he loves what he does.