What is Talent?

Today I was sent an article to read entitled "Why Talent is Overrated" by Geoff Colvin. It is an article that hit pretty close to home with me because I have never been overly talented at anything. Don't get me wrong, I am good at many things, but I have never had an innate ability to be great at any one thing.

When I was young I took martial arts. I went to class and I practiced from time to time and I became very good, a black belt, in fact. But I had many weaknesses that others did not. Then in high school, I joined the diving team because I was really good at doing tricks on a big trampoline. Once again I practiced everyday with the team and I became very good. I made state all fours years, I had the highest degree of difficulty of anyone in Nebraska and I was one dive away from possibly being state champ my senior year. But I wasn't the best, probably not even close to it. Was I just not talented enough?

Talent is an interesting topic. Obviously those individuals who have an innate ability to do something well have an advantage over those who do not. But in this article Geoff Colvin explains that talent does not necessarily translate in to greatness, and even those with no talent at all, have the potential to be great. What explains those who attain high achievement, he says, is deliberate practice. Deliberate practice meaning signaling out your weaknesses and striving to make them better. It means consistently stepping out of your comfort zone and pushing the limits of your body and mind. It's taxing, it's brutal and it's never ending. But it has to be, because if it were easy, then everyone would be great and if everyone was great, then we would all just be normal.

Why this article hit so close to home for me is because I know how great I could have been at martial arts. I knew I could be much better if I practiced more at home or if I spent time visualizing my techniques instead of playing video games. I know I could have been an even better diver. But again, I never gave myself fully to the sport and I always came up one dive short.

It was the same with my school work. I went to class and did the homework, but I never truly tried to learn a lot of what I was going to school for. Success to me was an A in the class, not the knowledge I should have been gaining. This article opened my eyes to the way I have been going about my life. I have always thought of myself as someone who can achieve great things but up until this point I haven't put in the work greatness demands. Now it's time to stop thinking and start doing.

It's going to be a long road of small steps but I know I have do it if I ever want to be great.