--- title: Career: How Successful Leaders Spent Their Teenage Years description: Spending time alone is really, really important canonical: https://time.com/3859359/leadership-teenage-years/ author: TIME article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-14T19:45:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:41:07.104Z article:section: Ideas og:title: This Is How Successful Leaders Spent Their Teenage Years og:description: Spending time alone is really, really important og:url: https://time.com/3859359/leadership-teenage-years/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt43f9c0b0d6db79c1/6987efd33c16396194456031/steve-jobs-apple.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Apple CEO Steve Jobs at the 2011 Apple World Wide Developers Conference at the Moscone Center on June 6, 2011 in San Francisco. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Is How Successful Leaders Spent Their Teenage Years twitter:description: Spending time alone is really, really important twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt43f9c0b0d6db79c1/6987efd33c16396194456031/steve-jobs-apple.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Is How Successful Leaders Spent Their Teenage Years > Sponsored content. 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A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=b30e5829-5947-4784-a436-1340efbe7fb5&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The Nantucket Project: How to Make the Best Hires [Watch (HLS stream): The Nantucket Project: How to Make the Best Hires](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/CJBOwUCR.m3u8) (1:23)  _Published 2014-10-20. Why Commerce Doesn't Have to be a Dirty Word_ by [Quora](https://time.com/author/quora/) ## Quora May 14, 2015 7:45 PM UTC  Apple CEO Steve Jobs at the 2011 Apple World Wide Developers Conference at the Moscone Center on June 6, 2011 in San Francisco. Apple CEO Steve Jobs at the 2011 Apple World Wide Developers Conference at the Moscone Center on June 6, 2011 in San Francisco. Justin Sullivan—Getty Images by [Quora](https://time.com/author/quora/) ## Quora May 14, 2015 7:45 PM UTC [_Answer_](http://www.quora.com/How-did-successful-people-like-Elon-Musk-Bill-Gates-Max-Levchin-Steve-Jobs-Peter-Thiel-Vinod-Khosla-Oliver-Emberton-Gayle-Laakmann-McDowell-Auren-Hoffman-etc-spend-their-time-when-they-were-young-between-ages-of-10-and-22/answer/Auren-Hoffman)_by_[_Auren Hoffman_](http://www.quora.com/Auren-Hoffman)_,_ _CEO of LiveRamp_ _,_ _on_ [_Quora_](http://www.quora.com/)_._ _Note: I don’t think I have ever before been compared with Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, etc. I am no where near as successful or accomplished as most of the people on this list. But for what it is worth, I’ll give you a trait that I think is common among most of these people (including myself)._ **Lots of alone time**Most of these people spent a massive amount of time alone when they were kids and young adults. And most of these people still spend a much larger percentage of their time alone today than most outsiders would think. Especially when people are growing up, spending time alone gives one the space to explore, to be weird, to learn, to imagine, and to dream. **Reading is really (REALLY) important.**Read a wide variety of books and articles that stretch your imagination. Don’t just read easy books (like Harry Potter). Read difficult texts that really stretch your mind. Read fiction and non-fiction. Read wonderful novels written by authors from far-away lands. Read things that challenge your political thought. Read the Bible, the Koran, Buddhist texts, and ancient mythology. And don’t just read conventional things assigned to you in school (like Hemingway, Shakespeare, and more) but try to seek out authors on your own. Because most of the people mentioned grew up in a different era, they spent a big portion of their time just reading the encyclopedia. Many of them would eventually read every encyclopedia volume letter. These people had an insatiable need to learn new things. When these people walked to class, they were probably reading a book or a magazine (in those days, it was a paper book). Some of these people even got injured walking into things because they were reading. Most of these people had parents that asked them to _read less_. Today the encyclopedia is free and on the internet. But today the encyclopedia is so big that it would be impossible to read in a lifetime — so today choices about what you read could be a bit harder. But reading is still really important. **Play acting**At an early age, most of these people spent more time play-acting than others. Very few of these people spent their time playing organized sports … they instead were in their bedroom, backyard, or nearby park playing by themselves. They were letting their imagination run wild. They were imagining themselves as secret agents, slaying dragons, marshaling their toy soldiers to do battle, starting businesses, dealing with family situations, and more. **Experimenting**It is amazing how many successful people lit things on fire, blew things up, captured and studied bugs, built bird nests, and more. My guess is that every single one of the people listed subjected themselves to multiple electric shocks (some on accident, some on purpose). They were building, creating, viewing, and observing. And they were the ones in charge of the experiment — they were the prodders. **Lots of creative activities**While most of the people listed are known for their right-brained prowess, most spent a very large percentage of their childhood and adolescence doing very creative things. They were writing short stories and plays, painting, sculpting, writing poems and lyrics, writing computer programs, and more. **Creating versus consuming**Reading, watching wonderful movies, listening to music, etc. are all great ways to spend time. But they are passive — these are consuming functions. Most of these successful people spent a large percentage of their time creating vs. consuming. They were building things, starting things, etc. This is really important. Today it is harder to spend time creating because there are so many more options to consume. In the days when most of the above people grew up, one would get bored pretty quickly of the consuming options (usually the best option was to read a book or watch bad television) where today there are just so many more options. In fact, the tablet is essentially designed to maximize consumption (unlike the PC which is a better tool tool for creation). **Get away from the social pressures of school**School, especially middle school and high school, is socially incredibly high pressure for everyone. People are jockeying for position and cliques are forming and unwinding constantly. There is a _Game of Thrones_ aspect to the social standing within high school that is ultra competitive and hard to escape. By spending time alone, people get needed breaks from the high school _Game of Thrones_. Alone-time allows you to spend time actually exploring yourself (rather than spending time conforming to some sort of norm). **Today, alone-time is frowned upon**Something happened in the last 30 years to encourage parents to spend more time with their kids. Another huge trend has been for parents to give their kids opportunities by enrolling them in lots of sports, weekend classes, summer learning retreats, and more. While there are so many good things about the trend of more involved parenting, one of the very important unintended consequences is that kids have significantly less alone-time then they once did. And even when they are alone, they have the means to be a part of of the larger group through social networks, SMS, and more. So it is harder of them to escape the social pressures of school. So we should expect the best strategy for kids today to not be the same as the best strategy for past generations. But most everyone (young and old) — especially those that have good social lives and have been reasonably successful — could use more time alone and more time to themselves. _This question originally appeared on_ [_Quora: How did successful people like Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Max Levchin, Steve Jobs, Peter Thiel, Vinod Khosla, Oliver Emberton, Gayle Laakmann McDowell, Auren Hoffman etc. spend their time when they were young, between ages of 10 and 22?_](http://www.quora.com/How-did-successful-people-like-Elon-Musk-Bill-Gates-Max-Levchin-Steve-Jobs-Peter-Thiel-Vinod-Khosla-Oliver-Emberton-Gayle-Laakmann-McDowell-Auren-Hoffman-etc-spend-their-time-when-they-were-young-between-ages-of-10-and-22) ### 5 Horrible Habits You Need to Stop Right Now  Do Not Email First Thing in the Morning or Last Thing at Night “The former scrambles your priorities and all your plans for the day and the latter just gives you insomnia,” says Ferriss, who insists “email can wait until 10am” or after you check off at least one substantive to-do list item. Chris Pecoraro—Getty Images  Do Not Agree to Meetings or Calls With No Clear Agenda or End Time “If the desired outcome is defined clearly… and there’s an agenda listing topics–questions to cover–no meeting or call should last more than 30 minutes,” claims Ferriss, so “request them in advance so you can ‘best prepare and make good use of our time together.'” Sam Edwards—Getty Images/Caiaimage  Do Not Check Email Constantly Batch it and check it only periodically at set times (Ferriss goes for twice a day). Your inbox is analogous to a cocaine pellet dispenser, says Ferriss. Don’t be an addict. Tools like strategic use of the auto responder and Boomerang can help. Jetta Productions—Getty Images  Do Not Carry a Digital Leash 24/7 At least one day a week leave you smartphone somewhere where you can’t get easy access to it. If you’re gasping, you’re probably the type of person that most needs to do kick this particular habit. by nacoki ( MEDIA ARC )—Getty Images/Flickr RF  Do Not Let People Ramble Sounds harsh, but it’s necessary, Ferriss believes. “Small talk takes up big time,” he says, so when people start to tell you about their weekends, cut them off politely with something like “I’m in the middle of something, but what’s up?” But be aware, not everyone agrees with this one (and certainly not in every situation), and you may want to pay particularly close attention to norms around chit chat when traveling internationally. Reza Estakhrian—Getty Images _More from Quora:_ * [How do you know you are on the right path in your life?](http://www.quora.com/How-do-you-know-you-are-on-the-right-path-in-your-life) * [How can women effectively lead?](http://www.quora.com/How-can-women-effectively-lead) * [What can I learn right now in an hour that could be useful for the rest of my life?](http://www.quora.com/What-can-I-learn-right-now-in-an-hour-that-could-be-useful-for-the-rest-of-my-life) ## Transcript I look for people who learn on the job. Because like can I, I don't trust them to plan. Because the plan is based upon probably a technology that doesn't exist. Prob, certainly a customer they've never, they've never had, a market that they've never been in, a competitor they've never faced. So if the plan is right, that's luck, not brilliance. So my job is to find a team who learns on the job. That they will discover their business and do it in a methodical way. Yeah, so here's what I think about that. I, I, say to myself, can this individual pivot? Mm- hm. Right. Mm- hm. Because they're gonna have to pivot. Because in every company that I've ever been involved in from the ground up. And, in every company we've ever invested in, I've never seen a company that didn't have to pivot, sometimes more than once. So you know, if the entrepreneur loves him or herself too much. Mm- hm. They probably are not gonna be great at pivoting. 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