LATE BLOOMERS BY RICH KARLGAARD

A groundbreaking exploration of how finding one’s way later in life can be an advantage to long-term achievement and happiness.

“What Yogi Berra observed about a baseball game – it ain’t over till it’s over – is true about life, and [Late Bloomers] is the ultimate proof of this…. It’s a keeper.” (Forbes)

We live in a society where kids and parents are obsessed with early achievement, from getting perfect scores on SATs to getting into Ivy League colleges to landing an amazing job at Google or Facebook – or even better, creating a start-up with the potential to be the next Google, Facebook or Uber. We see coders and entrepreneurs becoming millionaires or billionaires before age 30 and feel we are failing if we are not one of them.

Late bloomers, on the other hand, are undervalued – in popular culture, by educators and employers, and even unwittingly by parents. Yet the fact is a lot of us – most of us – do not explode out of the gates in life. We have to discover our passions, talents, and gifts. That was true for author Rich Karlgaard, who had a mediocre academic career at Stanford (which he got into by a fluke) and after graduating, worked as a dishwasher and nightwatchman before finally finding the inner motivation and drive that ultimately led him to start up a high-tech magazine in Silicon Valley and eventually to become the publisher of Forbes magazine.

There is a scientific explanation for why so many of us bloom later in life. The executive function of our brains doesn’t mature until age 25 – and later for some. In fact, our brain’s capabilities peak at different ages. We actually enjoy multiple periods of blooming in our lives. Moreover, late bloomers enjoy hidden strengths because they take their time to discover their way in life – strengths coveted by many employers and partners – including curiosity, insight, compassion, resilience, and wisdom.