Epstein makes the case that starting late or switching fields is nothing to be ashamed of. No matter where you are in life, you have as good a chance as anyone to become one of the greats—your unique history may even give you the upper hand.

Late bloomers spend a lot of time cultivating themselves. They often experience life as a long, organic process, where decisions emerge out of previous experience. They are always becoming themselves.

Late bloomers often seem to be chasing phantom goals, or no goals at all. They might have a sense of some future success, however vague, and they’re willing to let current opportunities pass them by in pursuit of the bigger goal – with really no guarantee of success at all. This is not just how late-life success is made. This is the cause of much f