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MINDSET
30 Years Old and The End of Creativity
Is Albert Einstein right about that?
There is a widespread belief that 30 is the age limit for those who do creative work: People can only come up with great ideas when they are young. Once the 30s kick in, this ability gradually decreases, and they cannot generate ideas anymore. Even Albert Einstein said:
“A person who has not made his great contribution to science before the age of 30 will never do so.”
I used to be haunted by this belief.
I started studying Design two years later than same-age friends, seeing no outstanding talents, and knowing the 30-year-old limit made me feel confused about everything and doubt my career choices from time to time. This was especially true at the beginning of my career when work was stagnant, there were tons of unfinished projects, and ideas did not seem to come when I needed them.
But does age limit creativity?
Now 33 years old, I can say the age limit on creativity is just a myth, and mindset is crucial to deciding your creative ability is limit.
- “I am the explorer” mindset.
- “I am an expert” mindset.
“The explorer” searches for ideas with the mindset that what might come up could be anything, “I don’t know, but then I’ll know,” while “the expert” goes looking for things “I have understood, or already know how to do because otherwise, how can I call myself an expert.”
Perhaps, people with the right skill, attitude, and passion tend to seek to grow their expertise in the early 20s, becoming an “expert” in the early 30s, and this has made the 30s gradually become the limit for others.
I think Albert Einstein’s quote has been misinterpreted. What he meant was probably “try hard to do something when you’re young,” maybe because the average human life expectancy was low at that time (about 30–40 according to WHO statistics).
But believe me, age has absolutely nothing to do with each person’s creativity. Suppose you are stuck searching for ideas for an ongoing project or spending many days and hours…
