What to Make of a Life summary

Remarkable people appear driven by an inner fire – a deep passion for their work that drives them forward. But what fuels it? 

The author found one principle that applied to every single person he researched. They all eventually found endeavors that simply clicked with them, like McClintock becoming consumed by her exam questions. Their work aligned with their deep encodings. 

Following your deep encodings creates an inner flywheel. You find something you love, you do a lot of it, you get better at it, you experience the satisfaction of mastery, and then you want to do even more of it. Suddenly, there’s no need for external rewards, recognition or discipline. The flywheel runs all by itself, fueled by an ever-burning love of doing. 

That doesn’t mean you need to be so obsessed with your pursuit that it’s the only thing you care about. In his research, the author found that 53 percent of remarkable people placed high priority on their marriage or parental roles. Moreover, 88 percent of people had side passions. Take Robert Plant, the Led Zeppelin frontman, who was also a passionate vice president of his hometown football club. 

After surviving a cliff, many people find themselves enveloped by a thick fog – a period of disorientation where progress is utterly uncertain. 

Actor Michael J. Fox kept his Parkinson’s diagnosis private for seven years. He wrestled with what it meant for his career, family and identity. His path out of this fog was not linear. He quit drinking, stepped away from movies to do more TV shows, and only gradually found his new role as a Parkinson’s advocate. 

Cliffs and fogs can completely transform us as people, at any stage of life. That could be why many people in the study have another interesting thing in common: they did their best work late. 

Toni Morrison published one of the books central to her Nobel Prize at 61. Robert Plant earned 86 percent of his Grammy nominations, and all eight wins, after turning 50. Katharine Graham wrote one of the finest CEO memoirs ever written – in her 70s. Or take the famous example of Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, whose ambitions were repeatedly frustrated by the political climate of the time. He was already 70 when he joined the Declaration committee. 

Let’s return to the question from the beginning, slightly rephrased: How do we live a meaningful life?

The answer is quite simple: You uncover your deep encodings and follow them, relentlessly. This is what all the people in the author’s study had in common. They didn’t plan to have an impact. Rather, meaning grew organically from following their passion, taking small steps, and evolving through unforeseen change. Similarly, their happiness seemed to be a byproduct of the way they lived, not something they chased directly.