10,000 hours of practice VS. Talent!

10,000 hours of practice VS. Talent:

What is talent?

A special endowment, often athletic, creative, or artistic aptitude.

What is practice?

To do or to perform often, customarily, or habitually.

What is the biggest difference between these two qualities which we all have (of course in different proportions). Some would argue that talented individual are possessed by passion and “IT” comes easy to them. And this might be the case if they aren’t challenged by another talented individual. But what determines the difference between two greatly talented individuals? What happens when you match Micheal Jordan (1989) Vs. Micheal Jordan (1990)? I’ll leave you to fill in the blanks for arguments sake.

(Allen Iverson suits this contrast best. A very talented Basketball player who lack the discipline to hone his passion.)

My point is- whether you’re competing against others or not- competing with yourself (through practice), prioritizes your passion over talent… remember, talent is easy to access- passion is earned through pushing yourself to the brink of no return… going where none of your competition will never CHOOSE to go. Although, it’s true that talented individuals have an upper hand in getting started, giving their special endowment, most don’t practice enough to reinforce their passion for their talent. Sooner than later they take the give in to the temptation of talent and they fall out of love with their work.

On the other hand- less talented individuals can rise-to-talent by competing and practicing with greatly talented individuals. These “less talented” individuals appropriate their depth of passion towards practice… well, whatever your opinion- one important factor in achieving success is practicing.

Any depth of passion can be earned through the hard fought victories which come from hundreds, even thousands, of hours dedicated to working on your craft- gaining valuable experience and honing your skills. The good news is that anyone could create passion through a bit of hard work. Talent, like passion, could be earned.

though I believe it to be true that talented individuals are born with a giving skills-set- which makes it more enjoyable in the beginning of their career, lacking the discipline to practice day and night will result in passion fatigue- a horrible state of mind for a competitor to be in.

This lack of will; lack of desire to get better, leads to a self-defeat mindset and ultimately a loss of passion, and the talent-ego consumes what little passion they have left.

We all know this story… the cocky jock whose loses it all in the wake adversity and has to go through a training montage with “the eye of tiger” playing in the background… lol.

How can you overcome this dilemma…?

Practice, practice, practice- day and night.