WEBVTT - It's OK to be a late bloomer

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is that it is okay to be a

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<v Speaker 1>late bloomer. Sometimes taking time to try lots of different

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<v Speaker 1>things can teach you what you really like so that

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<v Speaker 1>you'll want to spend lots of time, and whatever you

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<v Speaker 1>do wind up pursuing because you like it for its

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<v Speaker 1>own sake. Today's tip comes from Before Breakfast producer Lowell Berlante,

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<v Speaker 1>who hosts a new podcast called Prodigy, which is all

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<v Speaker 1>about skill acquisition. There are different theories on how people

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<v Speaker 1>become really good at anything, Lowell tells me. One example

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<v Speaker 1>is Laslow Pulgar, a Hungarian educational psychologist who believed that

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<v Speaker 1>talent was irrelevant for mastery. Instead, he decided the determining

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<v Speaker 1>factor was early specialized education, and he set out to

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<v Speaker 1>prove this with his own children. Laslow and his wife

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<v Speaker 1>had three daughters, Susan, Sophia, and Judae, collectively known as

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<v Speaker 1>the Pulgar Sisters. They ended up smashing the long standing

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<v Speaker 1>gender barrier that existed in competitive chess. Susan was the

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<v Speaker 1>first woman to become a grandmaster and was ranked in

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<v Speaker 1>the top three for twenty three years. Sophia once played

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<v Speaker 1>in a tournament in Room and delivered one of the

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<v Speaker 1>greatest performances ever recorded. Was now referred to in chess

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<v Speaker 1>circles as the Sack of Rome, and the younger sister,

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<v Speaker 1>Juda became the strongest female chess player of all time.

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<v Speaker 1>Laslow had some keen insights. He initially got his daughters

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<v Speaker 1>interested in chess by ignoring the competitive aspect and instead

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<v Speaker 1>telling them it was like a fairy tale the king

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<v Speaker 1>and Queen lived in a fortress and were protected by

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<v Speaker 1>the knights. He then taught them chess and kept their

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<v Speaker 1>interest by breaking it down into smaller games. For example,

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<v Speaker 1>they played what they called pawn wars using only pawns.

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<v Speaker 1>Gamifying can be an effective education method. We learn quicker

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<v Speaker 1>and can focus longer when the training is fun. So

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<v Speaker 1>was Laslow onto something. Certainly his daughters excelled. So should

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<v Speaker 1>you likewise encourage your children to specialize as early as possible? Well,

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<v Speaker 1>As the Prodigy podcast explores, the simple answer is probably not.

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<v Speaker 1>Anecdotes are interesting in these chess playing sisters are certainly

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<v Speaker 1>very interesting, but really you are more likely to create

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<v Speaker 1>resentment with this approach well, early specialization does correlate with

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<v Speaker 1>early accelerated performance, it does not correlate with elite performance

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<v Speaker 1>as an adult. A study of Olympic and national level

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<v Speaker 1>athletes showed that the Olympic level performers spent more time

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<v Speaker 1>exploring various other activities when compared with their national level counterparts,

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<v Speaker 1>and there are probably various reasons for this, but one

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<v Speaker 1>idea is that early adopters suffer from burnout or injury,

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<v Speaker 1>while late bloomers spend more time figuring out exactly what

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<v Speaker 1>interests them. When they do find this passion, they're a

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<v Speaker 1>better match and they learn rapidly. Also, the combined variation

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<v Speaker 1>of experiences may provide a more rounded ability. So while

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<v Speaker 1>you will probably score some victories on the youth chess

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<v Speaker 1>circuit with early focused chess lessons, if you're interested in

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<v Speaker 1>long term success, in most cases we are better off

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<v Speaker 1>introducing children to a wide range of activities whichever ones

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<v Speaker 1>they seem most interested in, provide them with resources and encouragement,

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<v Speaker 1>and whenever you can praise the effort instead of the achievement.

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<v Speaker 1>This will reinforce the value of hard work and patience,

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<v Speaker 1>which honestly are what lead to success. In most areas,

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<v Speaker 1>the Pulgar sisters all tend to agree that Judd, who

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<v Speaker 1>was really the strongest of them, was the one who

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<v Speaker 1>worked the hardest. Later on, after interest is determined in

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<v Speaker 1>a domain, discipline becomes more important. The most efficient method

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<v Speaker 1>of improving is something known as deliberate practice. This is

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<v Speaker 1>practice that is specifically designed to improve skills. A golfer,

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<v Speaker 1>for instance, might record herself on the driving range with

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<v Speaker 1>the goal of improving accuracy. She would then review the

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<v Speaker 1>footage with a coach and receive feedback. This will improve

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<v Speaker 1>performance more than just playing another round. A basketball player

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<v Speaker 1>learning to dunk might spend time doing the dead lifts

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<v Speaker 1>and back squads that would increase his power to body

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<v Speaker 1>weight ratio and give him the ability to jump higher.

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<v Speaker 1>In any case, any time you start practicing hard, you

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<v Speaker 1>will improve. But most people won't practice hard long term

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<v Speaker 1>when they are not really excited by something. Parents can

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<v Speaker 1>force kids to practice for a while, but not forever,

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<v Speaker 1>and not with the whole heartedness that comes from being

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<v Speaker 1>intrinsically motivated to improve. So it is okay to be

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<v Speaker 1>a late bloomer. Try lots of things, and when you

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<v Speaker 1>do find your passion. Then you can tuck in and

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<v Speaker 1>be fully motivated to soar. To learn more about the

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<v Speaker 1>study of skill acquisition and expert performance, check out Lowell's

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<v Speaker 1>new podcast, Prodigy. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks

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<v Speaker 1>for listening, and here's to making the most of our time.

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<v Speaker 1>M Hey everybody, I'd love to hear from you. You

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<v Speaker 1>can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.

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<v Speaker 1>Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast pod that's b E the number four, then

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<v Speaker 1>Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me an

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<v Speaker 1>email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.

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