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Week 5 [7.11 - 13.11] Work or talent - which one determines success?

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Talent is innate skills, natural disposition with which we are born and that we must uncover. When working on it, it starts to bring a profit, but unrecognized, and an unsupported is useless. That would be the shortest summary of what talent is and how it helps us. And it is useful in achieving success in many fields, as long as it is properly cherished.
"Issue" with talent is that it is manifested in many forms, two different talents are
sometimes hard to compare. A little bit disappointing is that not every aptitude will help us to gain unimaginable fame and money. Certainly, however, it may be useful in everyday life and in overcoming daily difficulties As far as the question of whether the same talent is essential to succeed. it is no doubt about the role of the hard work in this process.
The success of our endeavors depends precisely on our commitment to the tasks performed, and on how much we focus on it.

Quite popular is the theory of 10,000 hours, which promoted a Swedish psychologist
K. Anders Ericsson. According to it, to be able to gain expertise in a particular area, it is
enough to spend on it a sufficiently large amount of time - it is about these 10 000 hours.
Ericsson conducted a survey among professional violinists and asked them to estimate time spent on exercises, which allowed them to achieve a high level of mastery.
The average result was 10 000 hours. The results can be interesting. Unfortunately, he also suggests that it is enough to learn something for a certain amount of time to really master it. Certainly, many people could take this statement as true, universal recipe for success. The truth, however, is a bit different. Why?

These data concerned only professional violinists. It is difficult to transfer their experience in the field of sports, for example.  After all, in addition to the exercise, important  are
psychological aspects, those related to diet and professional medical care. You could say
that it's like comparing oranges to apples - is relative and very conventional. However, no
one can deny the fact that years of practice and work on improving their skills will bring
results. But the sheer hard work is still no guarantee of achieving spectacular success.
It is therefore difficult to resist the impression that in order to succeed you need to find the
right balance of the two components. One thing is certain - the talent or hard work alone will not be enough to succeed. It is possible that having talent is even slightly overestimated in our culture. The result is that many people lack motivation to achieve something in life; it seems to them that they do not have any special skills.
We must all realize that hard work is always a solid foundation of every success. Avoiding a full commitment, we not achieve anything lasting or important. Even if you are very talented, you fail to build anything constructive, based on innate abilities. Better to be an average of talented but hardworking than "capable, but lazy”. And talent? This is useful, but it is definitely not the most important.


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Comments

Sylwia Pechcin said…
As many parents say: talented, but lazy ;) I think, like you said, that when someone is talented but avoids a full commitment,he won't achieve anything special. I also think that it's easier to gain some skills when you're a hardworking person, than to achieve something being talented but lazy. I haven't heard yet about someone who is lazy and achieved something special.
Unknown said…
I love to believe that hard work is the most important, because it gives hope, that everyone has a chance to achieve what he desires. And if you listen to or read what people who achieved something said, there is always a part with hard work and many attempts. Like well known phrase "blood, sweat and tears". Everyone with talent should remember, that he/she can be better, but without any effort they won't develop and they won't achieve a thing.
Unknown said…
I once believed that it's talented people who rule the world. You know, those geniuses with IQ over 400, who can do all the complicated stuff, like cars and nuclear plants. I thought it's a pinnacle unreachable by the likes of me, simple men with great dreams.

But then I watched the first Rocky movie.

It all became clear. Sylvester Stallone was not a genius - he became one with hard work. When his opponent was the state champion, and nobody thought Rocky could even land a punch, he treated that as a challenge. He trained long and hard, and finally reached the pinnacle. And even tho he lost the fight, he did not care. He won the battle with himself. And there was always Rocky II.

So remember, when you think that hard work is not enough, just watch Rocky.
Ihor Ahnianikov said…
I guess that it depends on a field where you want to you want to succeed, for example in sports there may be limitations that you can't change by working hard, for example having an average height and playing basketball. Also there may be limitations in art, some people just can't become musicians or artists, but they can succeed in science because of a different state of mind. So following your interests and working hard may be the key to success.
Unknown said…
I'm a person after music school and I know well that without hard work there will be no effects. If you want to be good at something you must repeat the same activity many times. For example when I went to school I learnt something a long time and I could play it well but when my teacher played the same notes it sounded very different. Talent is part of success but if you don't work talent is useless.
I think that talent is an important factor in gaining success, but it must be supported by hard work, which, in my opinion, is really essential.
People who have talent in a particular field are actually predisposed to achieve better results, but as you pointed out, they are often lazy and in result they achive a little more than nothing. For this reason, I strongly believe that hard work is a key to success. Hard work not only allows you to achive the goals you set yourself, it also teaches you patience, dedication and gives you greater satisfaction afterwards.
Of course, the ideal effect can be achieved with a combination of these two factors.
Unknown said…
In my opinion someone that has a talent should develop this specific field. It's like a indicator to what we are good at and what we should work on. I fully agree with a statement of Einstein. 1% of talent but 99% of hard work is essential to become successful at anything we are dealing with.
Unknown said…
Talent is a dirty word Talent gives you a head start, but hard work makes you finish the race.

Some "no" arguments (talent over hard work) say that profoundly gifted individuals have an edge. No doubt, but how many truly are "profoundly" gifted? Not many, at most. Which tool is more important, the one that everyone can use for every purpose, or the one some can use for some purposes?

Hard work trumps talent. Yes, even if a talented person can trump a hard working person (or vice-versa, because there's always someone better). Hard work, is something everyone can possess; it can help everyone for just about anything. Talent? Only some possess it, even less use it properly.

People who have both, are amazing. Why? Because not only were they naturally blessed, they've kept at it. Talent without hard work becomes meaningless. Hard work without talent stays hard work, it oftentimes makes the skill second nature - something talent rarely does.

No doubt talent is still important, but the question isn't "which one is important and which one isn't?" It's which is MORE important. Hard work is, because whether you have talent or not, you can have hard work. Hard work is not a genetic miracle like talent seems to be. It's a way of life, a personality trait that can be ingrained into each and every one of us. That is why it is more important.
Unknown said…
Talent is important, but talent is not everything. This talent must be developed and shaped. If someone doesn't have the talent in this area must work harder than the one who has the talent. But if you don't have talent, it doesn't mean that you are worse. The second problem is to find the talent that we have, because it is not easy
Unknown said…
The question "what's more important - talent or hard work?" comes back to my life very often. I like trying very different fields of the life and then I think about it.

The first, which come to my mind is the fact I'm a pianist. I saw a lot of people with or without talent. If somebody achieved something, he must had been hard working. That's why I fully agree with Einstein's statement.

At the same time, I believe talent isn't necessary to be a master. In my opinion, thanks to hard work everybody is able to gain a level of mastery, but if we compare two hard-working people (with and without talent) the winner will be this one with talent.

To sum up, talent is very important (but not necessary) factor. But if we feel we have talent, we definitely should improve this field.
Unknown said…
Once, I've heard the statement that the middle intelligent people are the most capable of achieving the success and I strongly bielieve it couldn't be more true. Genius despite having a gift for it, won't be able to adapt to the society and the rights driving the world. Only strong headed person will be able to balance knowledge, awareness of his/her own skills and weaknesses, as well as adaptation to the "outside world", moreover will head for that success.

I can't agree that some aptitutes won't bring financial profits, in my opinion every skill could make us wealthy, it's only matter of being plucky enough to achieve it.
Dajana Kubica said…
I think that every person is able to learn anything starting from singing, ending with quantum physics. Simply, everyone will need more or less time to learn it. However, I think that everyone should do what are enjoying otherwise after a few years of doing something, we do not like, it destroy our psyche and we will not want to get up out of bed in the morning, to again do something we hate. However, talent allows us to significantly reduce learning time, and it seems to me that thanks to him we like to do what we are talented.
Unknown said…
I think that, we can get success without talent, but with hard work. Let's look on sportmans.Diet, hard work and long trenings, live without alcohol or cigarets - it's the only way to be on top. If they only have talent, they wouldn't get success, because always is someone who except talent, also work hard.
This comment has been removed by the author.
This title reminds me of an old fight in the Internet that have started many years ago. If any one is interested in football - it concerns two of the main football superstars - Christiano Ronaldo vs. Lionel Messi. People and other players used to say "Messi is all talent, while Ronaldo is a product of much training" - and as I look through the years there is much truth in that. I remember Ronaldo playing in Manchester United in 2003/2004 season. He had only 18 years old but I never saw somebody with so much fury and passion given in every game. If you want to see exactly what I am talking about - just watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYhd218fYQ

Lionel Messi was always a top class player (even he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency since he was 10) - you just saw that everything that he does comes with ease and just pure talent is glowing all around.
To sum up - both talent and hard work is important but they have one in common - you must train your talent a lot to push it to the limit as much as you can.
Piotr Basiński said…
I agree with idea that hard work is the most important part of the success. Talent it's a half, but to get the true success we need to work hard and put very huge amount of time in it.
Unknown said…
In my opinion even if you have some talent, you still have to work hard to expand it. I think it's the only way you can achieve something. Talent is only a certain predisposition and facilitate but if you do nothing with that then it's just a waste of your ability.
Maciej Główka said…
I totally agree, that talent or hard work alone will not be enough to succeed. Personally, I admit much more people, who work really hard to achieve something, than talented ones.
I've heard already about K. Anders Ericsson theory, in my opinion it is true. However, I think that as long as you can be a really great expert in something, talent is crucial to make one step further and be for example number one in the world.
Great example of hard work and talent are Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi. The first one got to the top due to extremely difficult trainnings. He was put through the hoops not even once. Cristiano very often stays after training to make some extra exercises like shooting free kicks even when the whole team went home already. He is a great example of "no pain no gain" type of person. On the other hand we got Leo Messi who is just a pure talent. Of course, he trains a lot but he doesnt need to put such effort in trainings like Cristiano because everything is easier for him. Both of them are great players, but in my humble opinion Crisitiano should be more appreciated for what he made to be a the top.
Unknown said…
We are creatures who love an instant gratification. And not very long term oriented. Our society loves to have talented people. Because it makes us believe that they have a super power. It gives us an excuse of not being an over-archivers.

Carol Dweck in her book “Growth mindset” opens up this topic in a very detailed way. When a person has growth mindset it means that they are eager to learn, they estimate themselves by a number of attempts they take, not by how well they performed during attempts (of learning algebra for ex). Carol was taking interview of successful young sportsmen and it appeared that even if they lose a game, they don’t upset. They are aware that they played on the maximum of their abilities so they archived their goal.

Robert Greene, author of “Mastery” also supports the rule of 10 000 hours. He showed it on the example of American jet airplane pilot. Gonzales was not the best pilot in the army. “Golden boys” had a physiological predisposition for flights. Gonzales didn’t have. But he was training 3 times more often than “Golden boys”. And after few years he became the greatest pilot.

Let’s all focus on the amount of attempts we take, not how good we are during those attempts.

That great song says:
“This is ten percent luck
Twenty percent skill
Fifteen percent concentrated power of will
Five percent pleasure
Fifty percent pain”
I think that hard work is a key to achieve a success, even the most talented person without developing his talent, wouldn’t achieve success. However the talent is also essential to be successful, for example I could never be a successful singer, no matter how hard I’d work on it. It is nice to think that hard work can make us great at something we love, but I think that without even a little bit of talent it’s impossible.
kondrat said…
I've also heard about 10000 hour "rule" and I agree with it. For example: to become a good developer you have to spend a lot of time on coding, debugging, thinking.. Without that no one can be successful in the thing he/she does.
Moode said…
Talent is something that we get when we are born, however we really need to take good care of it. In my sole opinion, it is also very important that parents will encourage their children to find and work on their natural skills.
I think that talent plays a very small role in learning anything. An average person can become really good at something if he/she spends enough time practicing it. In my opinion talent is an abstract term. Here is a nice video that shows violin skill progression: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaugRxMz7tw
Both. You won't achieve anything special with hard work alone if you're not talented, but you also won't achieve anything AT ALL if you're talented but you won't put serious amount of effort into achieving the goal.

It's true that nearly everybody can be good at something and being talented is not really important that much, but it definitely helps in long-run and encourages you to progress, because you understand that you're given the opportunity that many other people simply don't have. The environment people live in is also super important, because encouragement from family and friends is probably the single most important factor on a way to success, I wouldn't achieve many things I'm proud of today if I didn't have enough support of people I keep close relations with.

In any case, achieving something will always require commitment and there is no way around that.
As a person talented in many fields I can confirm that ;) It's all about hard work. Saying someone is "talented" diminishes hours spent trying to achieve certain result. There is no magic behind success, just enough practice.
Wojtek said…
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Wojtek Kania said…
It's really hard to say. I have a great example from football. Now we have a pleasure to watch two best players in the world - Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. They are amazing. Both of them have so many fans and so many haters. But everyone must admit that one of them is the best player in the world. Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the best footballer in the world because he was working so hard. Lionel Messi was born with a talent to play football.
Unknown said…
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Unknown said…
I've been able to get very good grades, great matura exam results and keep on passing my classes and exams without almost any effort or work at all. I can understand advanced new topics in minutes and get completly bored with them in hours. I'm 25 and I've never worked hard in my entire life, but it's very hard for me to achieve something because I usually choose the way involving the least amount of work. If something is really intresting to me I can work on it with great eagerness and enthusiasm, but it always gets boring so quickly and I abort it. Still I would not trade my intelligence for patience or diligence.

Michał Pycek said…
I think it really depends on a person. Some people need to put a lot of effort in order to get something done, achieve a goal or pass a test. The others just read a couple of notes and pass with minor issues or without them. I am a type that is eager to dig deeper to the core of the topic and I always need to find a solution to an issue I work with or read about. There are some scopes of science I am good at and learn fast, there are some of them which I need more time, but still, I enjoy to learn new facts and gather more information. I would say that working smart is better than working hard, but of course generally working on something in 100% is the best way to achieve something. When somebody is fully focused on a goal, it gets easier than when wasting time on doing a few things at a time, which we do not really focus on.
Also, I think that when it comes to talent, nearly everybody has something, he or she is really good at, but not many people realize this is talent or they simply do not pursue it.
Unknown said…
In my opinion hard work is the main key to success. Whitout it you will not achieve the objectives that have been set. Talent is just small addition that can help you with this. If you like something to do and you devote it enough time you can surely succeed in your attempts to become a successful person.
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
OlaScislewska said…
The most poular example is bout between Cristiano Ronaldo who is called as the operose one and Lionel Messi called as talented one. Who is better - this can not be said in objective way.
Comforting for all of us would be thesis that we can achieve anything by hard work, discipline and consistency. I belive there is no limits for us anyway some people has some qualification better expanded than other and it lets them learn some skills faster. Lucky them :)
Unknown said…
Not every skill can be trained. Without a good voice or hearing we won't become good opera singers, but if we invest a lot of time into learning to play ukulele and we are determined to create and sing, we can become great artists who do stuff in their own style with their own audience. If you don't have natural predisposition towards something you can still do it, just maybe not become the very best at it. It's not about "not having a talent towards anything" but about dedication and doing what gives us pleasure, and one day we can become really good at it.
I partly agree with you. People can achieve a lot only by hard work. In my opinion you underestimate talent. It can be a great booster especially in the beginning. First of all you learn quicker and that gives you a motivation to train more. If you would learn playing on instrument for one year and after this time the only thing you could play was 'Happy Birthday' probably it would be the end of your musician career. I know it is a bit extreme example, but I hope you understand my point of view.
There is no reward without hard work. It became obvious to me at college where the talent was not enough to achieve good grades. I agree that many people lack motivation to achieve their goals just because they think they lack the talent or they are simply too lazy to discover one. I'm sure that without all the hard work that I have put into my personal development I wouldn't achieve 50% of what I have now.
Talent is the natural predisposition for something and to achieve the mastery you need to practice, practice and practice. There is no fast remedy for it, only hard working will make you fluent in something.
Of course the talented people have much easier in achieving mastery, I think everybody with a lot of hard work could do it :)
KamilG said…
I agree that hard work gives a big chance to have a success. I'll give an example about two boys which want build their muscles, but only one of them has predisposition to
build them fast. Obviously only predisposition doesn't guarantee him having muscles, but hard work at the gym.
Well the problem with the whole talent vs hard work thing is that it's really difficult to define what actually is a talent. We all know what it means to work hard, but do we all have the same definition of talent? I don't think so. Can talent be taught or does it need to be discovered? What does it mean to be a talented programmer for example? It surely doesn't mean someone was born with fully developed programming skills. It may mean that someone thinks logically or has the ability to solve problems creatively. But than again, can't you achieve it through hard work?
Unknown said…
Hard work is very important think to develop your skills and make you better in way what you want to do in the future. Talent is only a part to make a big success. I more important think is to hard work in think what you want to do. You learn from a child how develop your brain and what you need to do to be more inteligent
JackJohnson786 said…
Social

Knackit is a short-video platform for the Artistic Community. You can showcase your talent in the form of videos to get hired. Watch, comment ...

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