1 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:06,720 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:08,880 --> 00:00:14,400 Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 3 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:18,200 Speaker 1: Today's tip is that it is okay to be a 4 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:23,360 Speaker 1: late bloomer. Sometimes taking time to try lots of different 5 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:26,880 Speaker 1: things can teach you what you really like so that 6 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:29,680 Speaker 1: you'll want to spend lots of time, and whatever you 7 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:33,480 Speaker 1: do wind up pursuing because you like it for its 8 00:00:33,479 --> 00:00:38,960 Speaker 1: own sake. Today's tip comes from Before Breakfast producer Lowell Berlante, 9 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:42,519 Speaker 1: who hosts a new podcast called Prodigy, which is all 10 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:47,520 Speaker 1: about skill acquisition. There are different theories on how people 11 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:52,519 Speaker 1: become really good at anything, Lowell tells me. One example 12 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:57,320 Speaker 1: is Laslow Pulgar, a Hungarian educational psychologist who believed that 13 00:00:57,400 --> 00:01:02,680 Speaker 1: talent was irrelevant for mastery. Instead, he decided the determining 14 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:07,080 Speaker 1: factor was early specialized education, and he set out to 15 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:10,920 Speaker 1: prove this with his own children. Laslow and his wife 16 00:01:10,959 --> 00:01:14,880 Speaker 1: had three daughters, Susan, Sophia, and Judae, collectively known as 17 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:18,400 Speaker 1: the Pulgar Sisters. They ended up smashing the long standing 18 00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:22,960 Speaker 1: gender barrier that existed in competitive chess. Susan was the 19 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:25,840 Speaker 1: first woman to become a grandmaster and was ranked in 20 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:29,480 Speaker 1: the top three for twenty three years. Sophia once played 21 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:31,399 Speaker 1: in a tournament in Room and delivered one of the 22 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:35,000 Speaker 1: greatest performances ever recorded. Was now referred to in chess 23 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:38,880 Speaker 1: circles as the Sack of Rome, and the younger sister, 24 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:42,800 Speaker 1: Juda became the strongest female chess player of all time. 25 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:47,800 Speaker 1: Laslow had some keen insights. He initially got his daughters 26 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:51,840 Speaker 1: interested in chess by ignoring the competitive aspect and instead 27 00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: telling them it was like a fairy tale the king 28 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:57,400 Speaker 1: and Queen lived in a fortress and were protected by 29 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 1: the knights. He then taught them chess and kept their 30 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:04,320 Speaker 1: interest by breaking it down into smaller games. For example, 31 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:07,920 Speaker 1: they played what they called pawn wars using only pawns. 32 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:13,639 Speaker 1: Gamifying can be an effective education method. We learn quicker 33 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:17,680 Speaker 1: and can focus longer when the training is fun. So 34 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:24,240 Speaker 1: was Laslow onto something. Certainly his daughters excelled. So should 35 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:30,639 Speaker 1: you likewise encourage your children to specialize as early as possible? Well, 36 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:36,000 Speaker 1: As the Prodigy podcast explores, the simple answer is probably not. 37 00:02:37,160 --> 00:02:40,840 Speaker 1: Anecdotes are interesting in these chess playing sisters are certainly 38 00:02:40,919 --> 00:02:44,919 Speaker 1: very interesting, but really you are more likely to create 39 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:49,920 Speaker 1: resentment with this approach well, early specialization does correlate with 40 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:54,760 Speaker 1: early accelerated performance, it does not correlate with elite performance 41 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:59,360 Speaker 1: as an adult. A study of Olympic and national level 42 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:03,359 Speaker 1: athletes showed that the Olympic level performers spent more time 43 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:07,799 Speaker 1: exploring various other activities when compared with their national level counterparts, 44 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:11,799 Speaker 1: and there are probably various reasons for this, but one 45 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:16,120 Speaker 1: idea is that early adopters suffer from burnout or injury, 46 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:20,080 Speaker 1: while late bloomers spend more time figuring out exactly what 47 00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:24,280 Speaker 1: interests them. When they do find this passion, they're a 48 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:29,919 Speaker 1: better match and they learn rapidly. Also, the combined variation 49 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:34,640 Speaker 1: of experiences may provide a more rounded ability. So while 50 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:37,440 Speaker 1: you will probably score some victories on the youth chess 51 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:41,080 Speaker 1: circuit with early focused chess lessons, if you're interested in 52 00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:45,119 Speaker 1: long term success, in most cases we are better off 53 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:50,040 Speaker 1: introducing children to a wide range of activities whichever ones 54 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:54,440 Speaker 1: they seem most interested in, provide them with resources and encouragement, 55 00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:58,680 Speaker 1: and whenever you can praise the effort instead of the achievement. 56 00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:02,800 Speaker 1: This will reinforce the value of hard work and patience, 57 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:06,800 Speaker 1: which honestly are what lead to success. In most areas, 58 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:10,440 Speaker 1: the Pulgar sisters all tend to agree that Judd, who 59 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:12,680 Speaker 1: was really the strongest of them, was the one who 60 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:17,320 Speaker 1: worked the hardest. Later on, after interest is determined in 61 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 1: a domain, discipline becomes more important. The most efficient method 62 00:04:21,960 --> 00:04:25,880 Speaker 1: of improving is something known as deliberate practice. This is 63 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:31,120 Speaker 1: practice that is specifically designed to improve skills. A golfer, 64 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:34,159 Speaker 1: for instance, might record herself on the driving range with 65 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:38,240 Speaker 1: the goal of improving accuracy. She would then review the 66 00:04:38,279 --> 00:04:42,600 Speaker 1: footage with a coach and receive feedback. This will improve 67 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:48,400 Speaker 1: performance more than just playing another round. A basketball player 68 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:52,279 Speaker 1: learning to dunk might spend time doing the dead lifts 69 00:04:52,279 --> 00:04:55,560 Speaker 1: and back squads that would increase his power to body 70 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:59,239 Speaker 1: weight ratio and give him the ability to jump higher. 71 00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:04,800 Speaker 1: In any case, any time you start practicing hard, you 72 00:05:04,839 --> 00:05:10,719 Speaker 1: will improve. But most people won't practice hard long term 73 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:15,960 Speaker 1: when they are not really excited by something. Parents can 74 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:19,359 Speaker 1: force kids to practice for a while, but not forever, 75 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:23,800 Speaker 1: and not with the whole heartedness that comes from being 76 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:29,680 Speaker 1: intrinsically motivated to improve. So it is okay to be 77 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:33,359 Speaker 1: a late bloomer. Try lots of things, and when you 78 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:37,400 Speaker 1: do find your passion. Then you can tuck in and 79 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:42,159 Speaker 1: be fully motivated to soar. To learn more about the 80 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:46,200 Speaker 1: study of skill acquisition and expert performance, check out Lowell's 81 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:52,520 Speaker 1: new podcast, Prodigy. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks 82 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:56,159 Speaker 1: for listening, and here's to making the most of our time. 83 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:05,200 Speaker 1: M Hey everybody, I'd love to hear from you. You 84 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:08,000 Speaker 1: can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else. 85 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:12,320 Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at 86 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:17,240 Speaker 1: Before Breakfast pod that's b E the number four, then 87 00:06:17,279 --> 00:06:20,680 Speaker 1: Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me an 88 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:24,520 Speaker 1: email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot 89 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:27,480 Speaker 1: com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters. 90 00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:30,160 Speaker 1: Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch. 91 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:39,080 Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio. For 92 00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:42,240 Speaker 1: more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i heart 93 00:06:42,279 --> 00:06:45,680 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 94 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:46,400 Speaker 1: favorite shows.