No Such Thing Called “Talent”

When you watch Olympics, or when you see an extreme biker, or when you go to a circus, you probably think the same thing as I do: how can they do it? Well, at first it all seems to be about talent, a gift given from God to some certain people even before they were born. This also means that not everybody is able to do those tricks and even if someone works hard enough, he or she won’t be as successful as these guys. This is true to a certain point.

What would you say if told you that you could be one of these guys with enough time and training? [1]

What I think is that there is no such thing called “talent”. Anyone can do anything. But of course there might be limitations. In my opinion, there are two things which can be counted as limitations: genetic factors and time…

First one is genetic factors. This also is the loophole where everybody falls. Now, I know that my arms are not as long as Michael Phelps. So I am not dreaming of winning a gold medal in Olympics. However, with a good training, I can be a good swimmer as long as I have two arms and two legs. As you already know, there are plenty of success stories about people with physical disabilities, too, so don’t start making excuses right away. Another example of genetic factors might be the people who don’t get hurt by electricity. This is a gift and if you were not born with it, you can’t have it with training.

The second limitation is time which is the most important resource since it cannot be renewed. So, if you have enough time, you can learn anything, do anything, make anything… But in practice, time is not enough for this. We usually have a limited time period only for achieving a goal.

So, what is the difference between two people with similar genetics and similar time given for achieving a goal? Why can one do better than the other although they have the same time and physical conditions?

The answer is a simple word: motivation. Motivation means how eager someone is to do something and how long he or she can continue doing that thing without losing focus. For some people, fishing is fun. So they go fishing more often than the ones who don’t like fishing that much. Hence, the ones that like fishing practice more and become more successful. For some, playing a guitar is fun. So they buy a guitar, and they practice, and practice, and practice… Till they can play Dream Theater solos with eyes shut.

So, is this really talent? Is there a thing called talent? Or is it all up to the motivation, hard work and practice? The choice is yours…

1. Resource of photograph