14-year-old finished high school and college in 3 years while running 2 companies—why video games are part of his routine

  • 📰 CNBC
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 72 sec. here
  • 3 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 32%
  • Publisher: 72%

United States News News

United States United States Latest News,United States United States Headlines

Mike Wimmer's past few years have been busy, from running two tech companies to graduating college at age 14. Here's a secret to his productivity, he says.

, a Bermuda-based organization aiming to protect underwater ecosystems by regulating the invasive lionfish species.But like any teenager, his daily routine includes a fair amount of what he calls "kid time" — playing car racing simulation games with friends, swimming, playing basketball or building Legos.

"People think, 'Oh, you've not had a childhood. You didn't do XYZ.' And that's not true," Wimmer tells CNBC Make It. "I did everything a normal high schooler did, I did everything a normal middle schooler did. I'm still a kid." Some might view video games and basketball as distractions to work. Wimmer sees it differently, saying his hobbies are more helpful to his productivity than anything else. Here's why.preschool, the child psychologist told his parents that he'd maxed out her IQ scale. Since then, he's been on an intellectual development fast track, skipping grades and completing year-long curricula in months.

That means he's usually "the youngest person in the room," he says, and his parents have never wanted him to be lonely.By playing video games or discussing car racing with his friends, Wimmer stays grounded in the fact that he's still 14 years old, he says. The hobbies are a perpetual reminder that he has a full life outside of his academic and professional achievements — especially sinceHis parents, Melissa and Mark, also encouraged him to put himself out there in controlled social situations starting at age 3, from shaking hands with the captain of a cruise ship to ordering his own meal from a restaurant server.Wimmer and his friends love car racing simulation games, and he'll often play them during work breaks.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 12. in US

United States United States Latest News, United States United States Headlines