How  Smart People Sabotage Their Success
I remember reading once that students who excel in high school (valedictorians and salutatorians) are <i>underrepresented</i> as successful company founders, meaning that they occur at a lower rate than one would expect from chance alone.  I think the hypothesis was that these people tended to develop a perfectionistic (or even people pleasing) approach, and that this strategy works really well for &quot;doing what you&#x27;re told&quot;.  So they might often end up as a lawyer or a doctor, but they won&#x27;t start the next big company.<p>As someone who did well academically early on without putting in much effort, I constantly try to avoid this trap of a &quot;successful&quot;, but boring life.  I think the problem with a lot of these people is that the first sign of failure total demolishes them, because their identity is strongly tied to &quot;being smart&quot; (like the article mentions).  I know two people who became valedictorians in high school, mostly on natural talent.  The first became a lawyer at one of the best law firms in the country, but she mentally cracked after a few years.  She ended up quitting her job on the spot and stays at home now (and drinks way too much).  The second finished his PhD and hasn&#x27;t applied for a job in over a year.  No one is really sure why.<p>I&#x27;ve had some personal hardships in my life (chronic injuries and death of close loved ones) that I think has put failure into perspective for me, otherwise I would probably respond the same way.