The Genius Life 54: Why It Pays to Suck at Something

Karen Rinaldi is the author of It's Great to Suck at Something: The Unexpected Joy of Wiping out and What It Can Teach Us about Patience, Resilience, and the Stuff That Really Matters. She has worked in the publishing industry for over two decades. In 2012, she founded the imprint Harper Wave at HarperCollins. The feature film Maggie's Plan is based on her novel The End of Men. Karen has been published in The New York Times, Oprah.com, Time, LitHub and other publications. She lives in New York, New Jersey, and (whenever possible) Costa Rica with her husband and two sons.

What you'll learn from this episode:

Why the key to a rich and fulfilling life might be finding something to suck at.
The benefits Karen has enjoyed by spending two decades as a terrible surfer.
What you gain by allowing yourself to thrill at the journey of novelty over the destination of perfection.
How fearlessly sampling new experiences frees you from the burden of finding your passion and allows your passions to find you.
The authentic vulnerability you exude when you're not afraid to live as an example that it's okay to suck at something.
And much more!

This podcast is sponsored by my friends at Four Sigmatic (check out my interview with founder Tero Isokauppila in episode 12), who make a wide range of coffees, elixirs, and teas using mushrooms like chaga, reishi, lion's mane, and more. Go to foursigmatic.com/max to save 15 percent off of everything!