Child Prodigies: Better to Burn Out Than Fade Away

Peak explores how peak performers in music, athletics, and other fields develop their abilities. Through purposeful practice and the development of effective mental representations, nearly anyone can become an expert in whatever field they choose. The book shatters many illusions about expertise—chiefly, that it comes from genius or “natural” talent. Instead, it comes from rigorous practice and a willingness to improve slowly over time through a series of baby steps. By embracing these principles, you can become whatever it is you wish to be. Your future is entirely in your hands.

Defining creativity has historically been challenging because creatives are often walking contradictions—they’re introverted yet outgoing, focused yet easily distracted, and sensitive yet resilient. According to Scott Barry Kaufman and Carolyn Gregoire, this is because creativity isn’t a characteristic itself, but rather the effect of a collection of different characteristics.

The authors’ research shows that creative people are ultimately defined by their introspection, desire for learning and experiences, unconventional and fantastical thinking, and search for meaning. In Wired to Create, the authors say that creatives possess 10 characteristics that encompass these traits and result in their heightened creativity—by embracing these characteristics, you too can maximize your creative potential.

In this guide, we’ll explore Kaufman and Gregoire’s 10 creativity characteristics, explaining how they manifest and why they enhance creativity. In our commentary, we’ll supplement the authors’ discussion with information from other experts and books on creativity and well-being like The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron and That Little Voice In Your Head by Mo Gawdat.

We love tales of geniuses and underdogs who rise to success through extraordinary talent and hard work—but this isn’t the whole story. In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell argues that these stories of supposedly self-made men and women mislead us into thinking that success is an individual achievement. But in reality, every successful person had circumstances that contributed to their success.

In this guide, we’ll explain why uncontrollable factors like when you’re born, how you’re raised, and the culture you grow up in impact your success just as much as personal attributes. We’ve also included commentary that adds context to the case studies, provides nuance to the principles, and offers alternative explanations for Gladwell’s conclusions.

Peak explores how peak performers in music, athletics, and other fields develop their abilities. Through purposeful practice and the development of effective mental representations, nearly anyone can become an expert in whatever field they choose. The book shatters many illusions about expertise—chiefly, that it comes from genius or “natural” talent. Instead, it comes from rigorous practice and a willingness to improve slowly over time through a series of baby steps. By embracing these principles, you can become whatever it is you wish to be. Your future is entirely in your hands.

In his bestselling book The Sports Gene, David Epstein uses science to support the claim that our genes play a determining role in our success in sports. He opens by refuting the idea that enough practice is a virtual guarantee of success. He then spends the rest of the book citing research on genes and performance, taking the reader around the world and over evolutionary time, all to explain why the book’s title is an impossibility. There is no single “sports gene,” just as there is no “perfect athlete.” There are, however, fortuitous pairings of the right genes and the right circumstances in the right sports that together create the remarkable and diverse feats of athleticism that we see on the elite stage.

Our guide reorganizes the wealth of content in The Sports Gene by theme to help clarify Epstein’s major arguments. To provide more grounding, our commentary includes supplemental research as well as explanations of scientific concepts in the fields of genetics and evolution.

People commonly view intelligence as a single trait: a capacity for learning and problem-solving that can be measured in IQ points. However, in his groundbreaking book Frames of Mind (1983), developmental psychologist Howard Gardner proposes that humans have numerous types of intelligence, and each intelligence functions independently of the others.

We’ll start this guide by explaining Gardner’s ideas about what intelligence is, as well as his criteria for identifying a particular type of intelligence. We’ll then discuss seven sets of cognitive abilities and why Gardner believes that each of those sets qualifies as a distinct intelligence. Finally, we’ll explore how the existence of many types of intelligence (as opposed to a single general intelligence) could impact educational practices.

Our commentary will explore the ways in which research has supported or refuted Gardner’s ideas since this book’s publication. We’ll also discuss some alternative theories of intelligence. Finally, we’ll provide some actionable ideas for how to nurture and enhance your own intelligences.

Peak explores how peak performers in music, athletics, and other fields develop their abilities. Through purposeful practice and the development of effective mental representations, nearly anyone can become an expert in whatever field they choose. The book shatters many illusions about expertise—chiefly, that it comes from genius or “natural” talent. Instead, it comes from rigorous practice and a willingness to improve slowly over time through a series of baby steps. By embracing these principles, you can become whatever it is you wish to be. Your future is entirely in your hands.

Too many young adults have been convinced that their twenties are a “free period” of life, during which none of their choices matter and there are no consequences. The truth is, though, that your twenties are a crucial time in establishing a fulfilling adult life down the road, and throwing them away because of a cultural myth of extended childhood only makes it harder for you to find eventual happiness. Psychologist Meg Jay discusses the ways in which today’s youth have been misled into wasting these important years, and explores how we can make the best of this decade to find success in both work and love.

Research shows that your professional decline is inevitable and approaching faster than you think. Why is this the case, and what can you do to find fulfillment as you decline?