On today’s episode, I spent time with Rich Karlgaard. Rich Karlgaard, author of Late Bloomers: The Power of Patience in a World Obsessed with Early Achievement, is the publisher of Forbes magazine and is based in Silicon Valley. He is a lecturer, pilot, and the author of four acclaimed previous books. A self-proclaimed late bloomer, he had a mediocre academic career at Stanford (which he got into by a fluke), and after graduating, worked as a dishwasher, night watchman, and typing temp before finally finding the inner motivation and drive that ultimately led him to his current career trajectory.
This episode is brought to you by MetPro. Metabolic Profiling (MetPro) is the advanced methodology created by Transformation Specialist Angelo Poli that analyzes a person’s specific response to diet and activity, and adjusts based on their personal needs and goals. It has allowed Poli and his highly respected team to quickly redirect his clients in the direction they’ll personally see the greatest results. Go to https://www.metpro.co/timecrafting and receive a complimentary metabolic profiling assessment and a 30-minute consultation with a MetPro expert.
After a mediocre academic career at Stanford (which he got into on a fluke), Rich couldn’t hold a job beyond dishwasher, night watchman, and typing temp throughout the majority of his twenties. It wasn’t until his late twenties that his brain “woke up” and he finally found the inner motivation and drive that set him on his current career trajectory. Now, he’s an award-winning entrepreneur-turned-publisher, columnist, author, television commentator, private investor and board director and he’s on a mission to show why we and our employers need to redefine our expectations for the timeline for achievement. In Late Bloomers, which has already received early praise from Adam Grant, Arianna Huffington, and Dan Pink, Rich argues that our society’s growing obsession with wunderkinds has led many of us to buy into a distorted and vastly limiting narrative that if we’re not prodigies, we’ve failed. And yet, a growing body of research in psychology and neuroscience shows that many of us just aren’t wired for such early success: the executive function of our brains, which enables us to see ahead and plan effectively, doesn’t mature until age 25 or later, and different types of our intelligence peak at different stages of our lives, with creative insight improving into middle age.
Specifics that we covered on the show include:
- Why is it important for Rich to write the book Late Bloomers: The Power of Patience in a World Obsessed with Early Achievement? (02:34)
- The role of the media in forcing people to achieve early in life (06:42)
- How important is it for young people or late bloomers to be patient? (10:06)
- How does one navigate to maturity? (14:07)
- Traits that late bloomers have that younger people don’t have (22:05)
- The perception of productivity between young people and late bloomers (27:51)
- The role of social media for the young people and the late bloomers (30:36)
- What can be done with the educational system to fix the false sense of what it can bring (33:25)
“The pressure that we are putting on kids to achieve spectacularly and early so they can get into elite colleges so that they can get first jobs at Google or Goldman Sachs is unwarranted because it rewards kids who are really good at taking tests. It rewards those with determined focus and not all kids are built like that. And you see rising raise of anxiety, depression and we even had an epidemic of suicide.” ~ Rich Karlgaard
Relevant Links
- Website
- Book: Late Bloomers: The Power of Patience in a World Obsessed with Early Achievement
The key takeaway from this episode is echoes the popular fable The tortoise and The Hare – with the hare being admired more than the tortoise. The idea of slow and steady winning the race still has real power in a world that praises speed and hustle above all else.
Enjoy the show? Want to keep up with the podcast? You can subscribe to the podcast feed by clicking the “Share” button in the player above – and you can share it further using the same button as well. You can take things even one step further by rating and reviewing the show wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening and supporting the show!
Do you want 7 days of ideas, insights, and information on how to craft your time in just 1 weekly email?
Then you want The Dailies.
The Dailies is a weekly digest from Productivityist that delivers a week's worth of content in a nice little package directly to your inbox. Just enter your email to subscribe.
