Dedication Over Talent

“The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.” – Vince Lombardi

I think that there is some merit to the idea that some people are born with a natural gift at something. There are people who were athletically gifted as small children. People who showed signs of high intelligence as an infant. Some people are just predisposed to do well in a particular field, and no one really understands why.

People with an innate talent, however, can still be beaten by those who are deemed less talented, if those less talented individuals are dedicated to their craft. I have seen dedicated, hard-working salespeople, beat the “better” salesperson more times than I can count. Because it isn’t your talent that determines your place in life. It is your dedication.

The now-famous story of Michael Jordan not making it onto his high school’s varsity basketball team as a 5’10” sophomore showed the difference between talent and dedication. Michael Jordan was not an obvious natural-born talent. He had to work at it. He had to become dedicated to the sport to be the best.

The 15-year-old who was only good enough for the high school junior varsity team would go on to become the greatest player who ever stepped onto the court.

Don’t pray to wake up with talent. Pray to wake up with a determination to get up, work hard, and get after it.

Because talent is everywhere, but dedication is worth its weight in gold.