Is Talent Necessary to Succeed?

Talent is a natural aptitude or skill. That’s it, that’s all it is. It’s not some magical ability or some predetermined skill you were given by your creator. And if you don’t have talent, it certainly doesn’t mean you can’t do the job or succeed.

The opposite is true as well. Just because you have talent doesn’t mean you will love doing whatever it is you are talented at, nor does it mean you will become successful and rich if you pursue a career that uses your talents.

So, is talent necessary to succeed? No, but it doesn’t hurt. What do you need to succeed? I’ve got some thoughts on that….

Practice
They say it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert at anything. So, practice is essential, and that is whether you are talented or not. No matter who you are or how talented you are, you still have to practice and work at whatever you want to be good at. There are no shortcuts, everyone has to put in the work.

Education & Training
In addition to all the practice you need to do, you need to get trained and educated. This comes in many different forms. Maybe a degree, lessons, mentoring, being an apprentice, or attending specialized training? Everyone was once a beginner, and the right education will help you become an expert faster. Pursue education and training and you’ll find yourself mastering your craft.

Dedication & Drive
The only way you are going to succeed at the things you pursue is simple… You must want to do it. If you don’t want to do something, how can you expect to succeed at it? Dedication and drive is what will push you to practice, learn and master your craft on days when you might lack motivation. You may have all the talent in the world, but it doesn’t do any good if you don’t have the dedication and drive to use it.

Passion
Closely related to dedication and drive, passion is one of my favorite topics and it’s a huge part of whether you will succeed or not. You need to love what you do, or at least believe strongly in it. It’s real simple, if you have a deep passion for your craft, you will want to do it, which will lead to the practice and education that will perfect your skills and make you an expert.

Patience & Perseverance
Probably the most important ingredient to success is patience and perseverance. This is a big one, and I can’t stress enough how important it is to understand that success doesn’t happen overnight. You’ve heard me say it a million times…. “I’m an overnight success, thirty years in the making”. It takes time. Most people have put in years of effort before the found success. They worked hard, they failed, the worked hard some more, found some success and then one day it all came together and BOOM!!! they found real success.

Put in the work… practice, get educated and trained, have dedication and drive, be passionate and most importantly, have patience and perseverance. Those are the things that separate successes from failures, it’s not talent.