Many of us dream about changing career in midlife but reason ourselves out of it on the basis we can't throw all that time and effort away, and that we'd be clueless in another vocation, anyhow – not to mention about 20 years behind everyone else.

But best-selling author David Epstein says we're likely to thrive for the very reasons we fear we'll fail. In Range: How Generalists Triumph in a Specialised World, Epstein studied the world's most successful people – scientists, musicians, athletes. He found that if we want to become accomplished in almost any field, spending years dabbling in other pursuits is crucial.

Tiger Woods' exclusive focus on golf from age zero is constantly referenced as the only way to excel. Actually, Epstein finds the vast majority of elite athletes have what researchers call "a sampling period, where they learn broad skills" and "delay specialising".

Monomaniacal focus may work in the worlds of chess, golf and firefighting, but, Epstein explains, these areas involve repeated patterns and learning from the experiences they produce.