I love this post and totally agree. Not to toot me own horn or anything, but I’m pretty good at drawing. I aways have people say ‘you’re so talented, blah, blah, blah…’ What they fail to realize is the amount of time I spent drawing as I was growing up and even all through high school. It’s what I loved to do and how I spent almost all of my free time. Spent four or five hours a day or more doing one thing and you’re bound to become good at it.

I agree that genes help and perhaps there’s something special that sets aside the good from the really great, but I think anyone can become ‘talented’ at anything they put their mind to. It takes effort and practice that’s all.
.-= Kirsty´s last blog ..The Seven Link Challenge =-.

Thanks for taking the time to comment.

I understand your point about how it seems that you sometimes have to work harder than others to achieve. However, I still believe that people often over-look how hard other apparently ‘natural gifted’ people are working.

I know a few people who speak 5 or more languages fluently. People often say that they have a natural talent for learning languages. What is ignored is the fact that two or three of the languages were learned because they lived and studied in foreign countries as children or have parents speaking that language to them at home. They got their 10,000 hours in before they were adults.

Secondly, languages like French, Italian and Spanish are quite similar so learning one makes it much easier to learn the others.

Thirdly, they know how hard it is too learn languages so they put in the time to master new ones. I know a couple of people who study languages 15 to 25 hours a week, plus live in the country where that language is spoken. That level of dedication gets results.

Another example is my nephew who several people have commented is a naturally coordinated soccer player. While other young children are just beginning to kick the ball, he has been playing and practicing for a couple of years already. His natural talent is really a two year head start.

I know similar examples for music, math, art and business. I think we as a society tend to glamorize the Cinderella stories and ignore the value of gold old fashion hard work.

I appreciate the kind comment. The poses are different because I couldn’t stand straight anymore at the end of the race.

I think the nature/nurture ratio really depends on what we are talking about. I doubt if there is much genetic advantage in travel, blogging or even business. However, genes definitely have a greater effect in sports.

I would agree that it is 20% genes in sports but I would say that it is only a few percent for business or music. Indeed in Outliers, research shows that there are hundreds of examples of professional musicians who practiced more than their less successful peers, but no innately talented geniuses who got by with lower practice levels. 10,000 hours makes you a virtuoso. 4,000 to 6,000 makes you a music teacher.

I definitely agree here. The example I have used before is, thousands of hours of training and practice gets you to the Olympics, only then do genetic advantages put you on the podium. Most of us never come close to that level of deliberate practice so we never test whether or not genes would be an advantage.

I saw some related studies on fast and slow twitch muscle fibers of competitive athletes and genes can make a difference. However, many elite athletes find out after years of training and excelling that their body is better suited for other sports. Should they give up because their genes say shouldn’t be this good or should they just keep putting in the training to do the best they can?

Thanks for the comment.

I don’t know much about Sean Lennon, but I would guess that being John Lennon’s son and Julian Lennon’s brother would open up a lot of doors in the music industry. John Lennon wasn’t born a musician. It was earned through thousands of hours of practice as Gladwell writes in Outliers.

Perhaps a better example is Mozart, who is often regarded as a child prodigy. What is often over-looked is the fact that his father was a world class violinist who trained his son from and extremely early age. Mozart’s (the famous one) greatest works didn’t come until his early twenties, by which time he already put in his 10,000 of deliberate practice.

I agree that it makes sense to outsource work that you are not good at or which can be done more cheaply by others. The important point is that it is probably not genes that determine whether we are good or not. It is our own choices and hard work. That means we need to focus, just like you are advocating.

It’s 20% talent, 80% hard work and focus as far as I’m concerned!

Best,

Sam
.-= Financial Samurai´s last blog ..Being Overly Content Can Be Detrimental To Your Career =-.

Very few people suddenly wake up one day and find themselves able to master a particular craft or sport without ever having practiced before. Sure they may have the bigger hands, as you stated, but if they never get in a pool and spend hours learning how to move their body perfectly in the water, they will never be a swimming champion.

I will admit that my views are most likely the result of an excellent college professor I once had who would start each class by writing “Natural Talent” on the board and then crossing it out in a dramatic fashion. Since then I realized that the only thing stopping me from achieving anything was my lack of desire to put in the effort.
.-= Earl´s last blog ..Spending Some Time in a Place Called Old Lyme =-.