When we look at someone successful, it’s most likely to consider one of the two to be dominant for that person. We think either that person is talented (for example, sport dudes or dudettes) or we consider that the person worked hard to get there (for example, the owners of the big corporations). But is there one of the two more important or more impactful (with the mention that when I refer to talent, I mean skills or aptitudes with which the individual is born with. Talent is more like an inclination towards something)?
Talent makes improvement easier
Everything requires work, but not the same degree of work. The classical example here is between Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. It is considered that Messi was born to be a football player, so he has talent by his side, while Cristiano Ronaldo has to work harder to stay on top. Of course, I’m not saying that Messi didn’t work to be at that amazing level, but thanks to his talent, he didn’t need to work that hard to develop his skills, while Ronaldo had to put in more work.
If we put side by side a talented person and a hard working person, the talented person will be better if the amount of work they both put in is equal. Yes, the hard working person can get to the same level, but it requires some extra work to compensate for the lack of talent.
Now why I’m telling you this? It’s because if we find out which is our natural talent, than it will be better for us to work with that because we can get on top easier compared to those who are not that talented. This might be one of the paths that can take us far in life. Talent combined with hard work is like driving with nitro.
I’m not underestimating the work or overestimating the talent, the combination between the two is the important part. Someone with talent that doesn’t put in the work, won’t get even near someone who works like crazy.
Let’s have a look at what we’re talented so we can harvest that. Sure, it depends on the talent too. If you’re talented at balancing a spoon on your nose, it might not do so much difference in your life.
Which talents do you have?