Here is a shortened version of David Epstein’s final two paragraphs in his recent book, Range:
So, about that one sentence of advice: Don’t feel behind… Compare yourself to yourself yesterday, not to younger people who aren’t you. Everyone progresses at a different rate, so don’t let anyone else make you feel behind. You probably don’t even know where exactly you’re going, so feeling behind doesn’t help…
Approach your own personal voyage and projects like Michelangelo approached a block of marble, willing to learn and adjust as you go, and even to abandon a previous goal and change directions entirely should the need arise… Even when you move on from an area of work or an entire domain, that experience is not wasted.
I did not realize that Range would resonate so much with me, because I thought the book was mostly about the best form of training for elite athletes and thinkers. But it’s not. Nestled throughout anecdotal evidence of those types of high-achievers is an argument that I’m hearing more and more often: lives and careers are long, don’t be afraid to readjust your trajectory as you go.
Epstein lays it out like this:
The challenge we all face is how to maintain the benefits of breadth, diverse experience, interdisciplinary thinking, and delayed concentration in a world that increasingly incentivizes, even demands, hyperspecialization.
I have found this to be true as well. We revere those who hit certain milestones first and admonish the people who take a more meandering path to where they want to go. Both options should be equally valuable, and Epstein shows that in many cases, the meandering path turns out better in the long run.
I also really liked his focus on the importance of hobbies and diverse interests in creating the world’s best thinkers:
Compared to other scientists, Nobel laureates are at least twenty-two times more likely to partake as an amateur actor, dancer, magician, or other type of performer.
Everyone needs habits of mind that allow them to dance across disciplines.
When I think about the smartest people I know, they are all knowledge chameleons. They are history buffs, and artists, who understand the stock market and different cultures. I always find it funny when I am recruiting on campus and all of a student’s interests are finance related. They are either extremely one-dimensional, or, as is often the case, feel as though demonstrating a wide range of interests will somehow set them back in the recruiting process.
Epstein also points out something that should be fairly obvious: We’re often expected to choose careers far before our personalities have fully developed:
The most momentous personality changes occur between age eighteen and one’s late twenties, so specializing early is a task of predicting match quality for a person who does not yet exist. It could work, but it makes for worse odds. Plus, while personality change slows, it does not stop at any age. Sometimes it can actually happen instantly.
There are a lot of other great stories throughout the book. Even without the career implications, Epstein does a great job of surveying the research and presenting his case across a wide range of industries. Worth the read.