Late Bloomers: The Power of Patience in a World Obsessed with Early Achievement

by Rich Karlgaard

If we have the power to choose our frames, then why would we frame events in a way that undermines our efforts? In general, researchers believe that many spontaneous frames like the ones late bloomers use are about self-protection. But self-protective frames dramatically inhibit our opportunities to learn, improve, and bloom: They are the “I’m not good enough” and “I’m going to blow it” thoughts. As late bloomers, accepting our limiting frames rather than challenging them has grave consequences: We end up not achieving our goals, discovering our passions, or living our destinies. Successful late bloomers don’t let themselves default to self-protective framing. Instead, they learn to reframe. The idea is, we’re all free to reframe literally any thought into something more positive, just like the nervous performers who reframed their anxiety as excitement. Reframing doesn’t mean ignoring facts. It means changing our perspective on the facts to give them a more beneficial meaning.