Without Grit Does Your Talent Even Matter?

Some days I feel lazy but I remember that my dreams don’t allow for that.?

I may not want to work out, but if I don’t, my stage performance will suffer. I don’t want to write when I’m tired like today, but I’ve already sold 4 blogs, so there’s definitely money in continuing to produce. If I don’t get my practice in, my sword won’t stay sharp.?

One time an old friend complimented my grit. In fact I get complimented more for that than my talent. It reminded me of this article I once read.

The one where Angela Duckworth made a case for how grit is the most important factor for successful people.?

The way she put it, talent doesn’t lead to success. Persistent, hard work does. When you listen to most people who achieve money they’ll mention their version of no days off.

It’s the people who are able to keep pushing when all the obstacles are against them who earn the biggest wins across history.

Giving up is tapping out, point finale.

Because it needs to be said, yes natural talent helps

It’s a blend of natural talent and developed talent that leads to greatness.

Natural talent is based on your genetics. For whatever reason I was born 5’7 with an ability to consume and retain information rapidly.?

One time in grade 7 I tried out for the Wagar basketball team.?

It was made clear to me right quick that I was not going down an athletics path of life. Like many other short men, the world of art and music ended up calling out to me. Still this “natural gift” I have isn’t entirely natural, it had some development.

When I was very young (before kindergarten) my mother taught me to read.?

Allegedly even before I could, I had Green Eggs & Ham so memorized that by looking at any page I could spit those Sam I Am bars.?

By the time I busted into the competitive landscape of school, I was branded one of those “reads ahead of their grade” types and was pushed towards reading/writing by teachers.?

My natural talent was recognized early and then developed by those around me.

Successful people work at successful habits

Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers is a book that opened my eyes to the power of grit.?

It’s the book that popularized the 10’000 hours to perfection idea. The gist of it being greatness comes after 10’000 hours of proper practice on your craft. The type or practice that includes following best practices and expert advice.?

Most prodigies of life were born in the right place at the right time.

A way this manifests is with hockey. Gladwell spends a chapter focusing on how most NHL players are born in Jan-March. Each season, kids born in the same calendar year were born together. At 4-5 years old, the January kids were bigger than the November kids like me. At that age, it’s a big deal in hockey so those kids older kids were more likely to get specialized coaching.

Access to successful habits taught those people to build the skills they need to reach the NHL.

They were in a position where everyone around them allowed them to clock that 10’000 hours of practice before adulthood.

They were trained in the art of how to clock those hours properly and not just work hard to work hard.?

When the time for opportunity arose, they understood the assignment.?

Or at least the ones who were willing to put the work in did.

A lot of naturally gifted people end up lazy and mid

School was stupid easy for me.?

So easy that by the time university came I found an excuse to drop out rather than step up to the occasion. Over the years I notoriously found comfortable strides that worked. Leaving my comfort zone was never easy for me.

That’s part of how I spent 12 years at the same company.

Now I did earn promotions and learn so much that it was worth staying that long. I still however feared the challenge of something new. Sticking to the comfortable had me sticking with a dying podcast format for far too long.?

Part of what made the show weak was the lazy choices I made to keep production up rather than establishing better workflows and habits.

Laziness doesn’t always mean avoiding work. Sometimes you can work real hard and get lazy about change. You can also choose to be lazy about growth.

A lot of the naturally gifted folk I’ve met had the world handed to them over their gifts. Until one day those gifts weren’t enough. So they stopped rising and stayed lost in the spheres where they could be the big fish in little ponds.

You need to develop your gifts but also learn to withstand the pressure of when your gifts need more work.

With grit, determination and humility you can find your path to growth

The APA defines grit as a personality trait characterized by perseverance and passion for achieving long-term goals.

Basically grit is the ability to do what you need to do to get to where you need to be.?

It means that when no one else is helping you figure out a way to make it happen. If you need money, you find it. You get over the emotions and figure it out.?

Every single successful person is talented, but most talented people don’t find success off their talents in ways they want.?

Successful people endured all the nonsense.

They learned what was needed to move past complaining.

They developed a lifestyle that allowed them to produce over time. They listened to the wisdom of people who won before them. They found knowledge of self and learned to use that knowledge to figure out how to win within the existing rule sets.?

As an example, if healthy performances require good breath control, I need to do cardio and get my breath control into a proper state for live performances. To be taken seriously as a professional, this is what I must do. There is no other choice in my mind.

No amount of protesting the system will change how cardiovascular systems work.

I hate excercise and eating properly, but through grit and determination I am developing healthier habits. Each day reminding myself this is what I need to be the performer I want to be.

Take some time to do the boring parts the next time you feel bored.

It’s never too late but stay touching grass

A lot of people you see in the top positions within fields have been developing their respective expertise for decades.

Chances are going toe to toe with someone with a ton more experience than you is a good way to discover what humbled means.

I started performing at the age of 24 years old. At 36 I’m still in but, if we compare to a lot of other 36 year olds, they’ve clocked decades of performing, many starting as teenagers.?

Now at a certain point, with enough dedication you will achieve the momentum that carries you upwards. However I will never clock the experience required to hit certain tiers of success. Those people have more grit than I do.

Even with my matured sense of grit today, I started late.?

Experience is like investing. If you stick with it, it compounds over time into wisdom. The longer I go the less it matters, but it’s something you need to remember.?

Go for the stars but learn to grow keeping in mind your reality or disappointment will mess up your day.?

Live Long and Prosper Everyone