Fluid intelligence, the brilliant flash and ability to grasp novel and new is the first curve of intelligence. When you look at its curve it peaks somewhere in the 30’s or 40’s and then has a steep decline. The second intelligence curve peaks much later and shows limited decline, even into later life. This curve is crystallized intelligence, the integration of knowledge, the solving of complex challenges, the wisdom of experience.

According to the book “From Strength to Strength” finding a way to migrate from the first curve to the second can bring greater life satisfaction, happiness and health. This book has helped me recognize I am mid-migration, and I am grateful to now have the concepts to ground me. These concepts are giving me confidence in my skills and surety in the value I bring. Having the constructs from the book is also opening my thinking to what the path forward looks like and how to optimize the second curve.