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“It’s never too late to start X” is awful advice. They always share some stupid outlier anecdote like “best-selling novelist who started writing at 75 and won Pulitzer at 80” and it’s always either a lie (oh you failed to mention she was an editor age 30-75) or a weird anomaly.
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It's never too late if you are okay with your peak level of achievement being "fine". Plenty of opportunities for enjoyment in "fine" if you're not disappointed by higher expectations; not wanting to start something unless you can expect to reach the peak seems limiting.
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I mentioned that, but it’s important to note that the minimum viable level of competence to enjoy an activity can be quite high. If you’re smart your tastes can outrun your abilities too much to lower expectations that way.
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Various kinds of decline are real. But things you get going on before those kick in — the momentum can keep you going. So the trick is to start investing in multiple interests early, even if only at a low level of intensity/time. That, or lower your expectations for later years.
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I think the point I want to make is that "smart" people would probably benefit from deliberate work on lowering expectations where it's not in some way crucial to excel (i.e., needing to support yourself/family with it).
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