While I am confident there are several examples to the contrary (no matter how hard I work, I won’t be as good at basketball as Lebron), for us run-of-the-mill humans, hard work is still the way to succeed.
Talent, for me, lies more in what you find interest in and have a natural gravitation towards. As for me, I have a talent with words and being quickly clever. I have a talent for thinking outside of the box and tapping into emotion when creating marketing campaigns. But it’s research, experience, and studying data that helps me when it comes to being successful and retaining clients. I am a human dictionary/thesaurus because language is interesting to me and communication is important in all aspects of my life.
As much as I could possibly work and study, I couldn’t be an accountant. I couldn’t fool with numbers all day and stay that exact. I couldn’t be an engineer or homebuilder because there are too many equations and codes for my brain to decipher – bridges and houses would be falling down right and left. But I do plenty of marketing for folks in left-brained industries that don’t have a creative bone in their bodies. The bone is the talent. The muscles are the hard work.
People also tend to lean on their “talent” (degree, sphere of influence, etc.) and eventually feel like they are the victim after getting let go. Again, your name, degree or talent may get you into the room, but your hard work, dedication, and INTEGRITY will keep you there. I have been incredibly fortunate to meet a lot of people in my career in several states – but I know that is only one part of the story.
I feel this tenet is the same in personal relationships as well. Maybe you expect or want something in particular from a loved one, or they expect or want something from you and it’s caused some resentment. You may not have that talent (writing poetry, buying flowers, volunteering physical affection, committing to acts of service) but…knowing that you love them and they love you, could some “hard work” (as simple as a note on your calendar) make some of these things a bit more of a habit?
What’s your take on this argument? Will talent ever overtake hard work in the workplace, or even in your personal relationships? Let me know what you think.
Bespoke Marketing, LLC 