What are the desired outcomes of K-12 gifted education? I argue that core academic skills and the social-emotional aspects of learning and development are the proper foci to enable both innate and acquired talents the opportunity to flourish over the course of the lifespan. From this perspective, the motivational dispositions that support engagement in learning across the lifespan are foundational for the individual to reach long-term goals that are realized fully only later in life, such as strong accomplishment within a professional field, economic well-being, and perhaps even eminence in a professional domain. Information from studies of gifted students who have dropped out of school also informs an understanding of when academic achievement is important, and when it may be less so. Focusing the study of underachievement on academic content within the K-12 school environment makes it easier to study these constituent phenomena and to suggest practical strategies that may help students learn to manage their own motivational environment.