You're not too late. You're early for the version of your life that only slow, unglamorous years can build.

The thought behind it

You are handed the familiar diagnosis, then it is withdrawn and replaced with a truer, less flattering one. The Long Game holds that most of what matters accrues during years you will not enjoy while you are inside them. “slow” is doing the work: it is where the line stops describing you and starts asking something.