Breakthrough Success Depends on Your Productivity, Not Your Age

 

 

 

 

If you’re about to hit 30 or 40 or 50 or whatever, and you haven’t had your Breakthrough Success yet, don’t give up. Because according to a fancy new analysis of some 2,800 physicists — which is a hard field — your age isn’t nearly as important as your hustle.

 

A research team led by Roberta Sinatra of Central European University in Budapest dug back to right around the birth of the field, 1893. The researchers collected 2,856 physicists who had 20-year careers and had published “impact papers” — the kind of research that gets cited by fellow academics and covered by the press.

 

The researchers wanted to see where in a career those breakthroughs were situated, and as Benedict Carey reported in the New York Times, they found that age itself wasn’t the primary driver of success. Rather, productivity ruled: The more experiments a given researcher did, the more likely they’d score a hit paper.

 

The paper adds to the body of work building up around age and creativity. Harvard education theorist Howard Gardner told the Washington Post that early creative breakthroughs are likely to happen in fields where the work itself is suited to a shorter form, like math or poetry. But in law, psychoanalysis, history, or philosophy, you’ve got to spend more time marinating. “You need a much longer lead time, and so your best work is likely to occur in the latter years,” he said.

 

Sinatra’s work on physics presents a heartwarming finding: In the truest sense, your age isn’t that important — but your ability to create the time for your work, collaborate well, and make sure your results get in front of the right eyes can make all the difference.

 

 

 

Article Source: https://www.thecut.com/2016/11/can-you-be-too-old-for-success.html

Image Source: https://st.depositphotos.com/1144687/2683/i/950/depositphotos_26839127-stock-photo-falling-letters.jpg

 

 

Vocabulary words:

1. breakthrough (n.) – an important achievement or discovery

2. dig back (v.) – to look for things from past records or history

3. situated (adj.) – located in a particular spot or position

4. marinate (v.) – to stay long in a certain process

5. heartwarming (v.) – causing gladness or pleasure

 

Questions for discussion:

1. Do you think you've had your breakthrough success yet?

2. What do you consider a breakthrough success?

3. What are the things that help you to be more productive?

4. Do you think that being in your field of career, it needs more time to achieve success? Why (not)?