They say “Hard work trumps talent when talent doesn’t work hard”. To an extent, it makes sense; talent is a catalyst. If you have talent, then you were given an advantage to learn easier, progress faster, and even become a personal brand stronger. But if you don’t work hard to maintain this position of advantage, you’re definitely going to get surpassed by even those who didn’t have talent to begin with.
Some might even diminish the power of talent as a whole, assuming that success at a certain skill comes only through hard work and practice.
Perseverance Always Wins in The Arena of: Talent vs. Hard Work
Personally, I feel myself more lenient towards a different opinion: talent is a thing… People can be born with a given advantage. I don’t, however, believe that talent is enough on its own. Instead, perseverance is the key to success.
Over and over again I’ve seen examples of how hard work always wins in the battle of talent vs. hard work.
It Isn’t Enough to Be Talented
Athletes aren’t successful simply because they’re talented but rather due to endless hard work and training.
Take for instance, the success story of Serena Williams.
Serena is a professional athlete who won countless awards throughout her career in tennis, so far. Yet, most people talk about Serena as a miraculously talented woman. Well, doubtlessly, Serena is talented, but the question here is: Is Serena William’s Success a Result of Mere Talent? Of course not.
If you look onto Serena’s practicing schedule, you’ll realize that she is such a hard worker. She’d been waking up at 6 am to train with her sister ever since she was only 7 years old.
It would be unfair to such athletes who practice rigorously to claim that they’re only successful because they’ve been blessed with talent. It would also be unfair to younger people who would love to practice sports but are intimidated because they feel like they don’t have enough talent.
It’s Never Too Late for Hard Work
You might think that in order for hard work to pay off it needs to start at such a young age (like Serena William’s). Yet, other examples from real life have shown us that hard works pays off regardless of age. People can pursuit new skills at any point in their lifetime and still have a genuine chance at success.
A brilliant proof that it’s never too late to start working hard for your dreams is Paul Cézanne. Unlike famous artistic prodigies like Picasso, Cézanne’s best artwork only started later in his life. Being late to the artistic scene didn’t mean Cézanne’s hard work wouldn’t pay off, he still managed to create masterpieces after years of dedication and practice.
In the field of writing, shines the name Ben Fountain as an example of working hard for your dreams even if you’re older than most.
Ben was a lawyer in a successful and stable job when he made the decision to be an author of fiction. Although it took him an incredible load of hard work, he managed to get his first book “Brief Encounters with Che Guevara” written when he was almost 50 years old.
Today, Ben Fountain is a notable author and Cezanne is a celebrated artist, even though they both started their path to success later in their life.
In short, we need to start reevaluating how much impact talent actually has on our lives. Start working hard for your dreams and don’t look back on simple labels like “talented” and “gifted”, let your work and perseverance define you. Keep growing, to develop the brand that is unequivocally and uniquely "YOU".
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