The Secrets of Those Who Succeed Late in Life

This is an edition of The Wonder Reader, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a set of stories to spark your curiosity and fill you with delight. Sign up here to get it every Saturday morning.

“Today we live in a society structured to promote early bloomers,” David Brooks wrote in The Atlantic this week. “Many of our most prominent models of success made it big while young—Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Taylor Swift, Michael Jordan. But for many people, the talents that bloom later in life are more consequential than the ones that bloom early.”

Brooks offers both hard data and historical examples as he makes the case for the late bloomer, but most of us need look no further than the people in our own lives who remind us about the possibilities for late-in-life success: middle-school nerds who went on to do amazing things; relatives who showed tremendous personal growth after decades of stasis. Today’s newsletter is an ode to not being early, but getting there all the same.

On Late Blooming

You Might Be a Late Bloomer

By David Brooks

The life secrets of those who flailed early but succeeded by old age

Read the article.

The Curious Personality Changes of Older Age

By Faith Hill

When people lose the ability to control their circumstances, their selves sometimes evolve instead.

Read the article.

How to Be Happy Growing Older

By Arthur C. Brooks

Your future will probably be better than your past.

Read the article.

Still Curious?

• How middle-school failures lead to medical-school successes : Parents who insulate their children from disappointment may rob them of the chance to develop self-esteem—and a good bedside manner, Jessica and Tim Lahey wrote in 2013.
• Why is middle school so hard for so many people? It doesn’t have to be this way, Alia Wong wrote in 2019.

Other Diversions

• Five books for people who really love books
• Hot AI Jesus is huge on Facebook.
• The Tchaikovsky cure for worry

P.S.

I recently asked readers to share a photo of something that sparks their sense of awe in the world. Belinda J. Kein, 72, from San Diego, wrote last month: “Each spring, this otherwise dormant, prickly, not particularly attractive cactus bursts into bloom and sparks awe with an explosive profusion of flouncy white flowers that put me in mind of nothing so much as fancy party dresses.”

I’ll continue to feature your responses in the coming weeks. If you’d like to share, reply to this email with a photo and a short description so we can share your wonder with fellow readers in a future edition of this newsletter or on our website. Please include your name (initials are okay), age, and location. By doing so, you agree that The Atlantic has permission to publish your photo and publicly attribute the response to you, including your first name and last initial, age, and/or location that you share with your submission.

— Isabel