He wanted to change his life before it was too late

Önce çok geçti, hayatısı değiştirmek istiyordu

Can I use ´önce´ here? - or should I use something else? Corrections please

(I actually wanted to say ´He would change his life before it was too late´ but I get very muddled with the ´would´ construction in Turkish so was being lazy with the ´wanted to´ - so any help with ´would´  - would be welcome) 

 He wanted to change his life before it was too late.

I think we can say "Çok geç olmadan/kalmadan, hayatını değiştirmek istedi."

If you start to translate with "Önce çok geçti" this sentence does not make a sense.

Sağol harpoon - but why do you use ´olmadan´ doesn´t that mean ´without´?

 You are welcome

Sorry - I added a bit to my ´thank you´ but not quickly enough  Oops! and so did you!

 Yes,

Think of it like "without being too late"

Thanks Marion (was that red or white wine?? )

 Mine´s a Doluca Reisling if it´s yerli, or a nice French Chardonnay if you´re pushing the boat out!!!

 .

English : He/She read a novel one day and his/her whole life was changed

Turkish : "Bir gün bir roman okudu ve bütün hayatı değişti"

P.S.

- (Verb : yüklem, fiil) To change : Değiştirmek, değişmek, yolculukta aktarma yapmak, para bozdurmak, etc

- (Noun : isim ) Change : Değişim, değişiklik, bozuk para

Turkish : Çok geçti;  ama daha da geç olmadan hayatını değiştirmek istiyordu.

English : It was too late;  but he/she wanted to change his/her life without being too late.