“Even if you are not the best at something, if you apply determination, you will eventually develop a great level of skill. Skill that emerges from dedicated practice often surpasses uncultivated talent.”
― Yung Pueblo, The Power of Determination
Take that quote about talent and pair it with Angela Duckworth’s findings…
👉 Talent x Effort = Skill
👉 Skill x Effort = Performance Outcomes
Talent does matter…for your ceiling. If you want to find success and peak performance, you don’t need a “cheat code.” It is true, there are no short cuts in life. What you need to know is that your level of consistent effort and determination over time is the number one factor in if you reach your ceiling or not.
Underwhelming right? Yup it is. As seen above, effort counts twice for your performance outcomes…talent only counts once. Thus effort is more important than talent, in the long run.
Determined people will eventually achieve more with whatever their level of talent is, because with great effort their talent will be maximized over time.
Meanwhile, more naturally talented people who do not work as hard, will not maximize their abilities due to their lack of effort or determination to be their best (think MS basketball heroes that become irrelevant in high school because they stop developing their skills as it was easy for them to dominate early on).
Regardless of your “fixed” amount of talent, higher performance outcomes are up to you. You can maximize your talent and surpass others. It truly boils down to a person’s willingness or determination to commit to purposeful and planned effort, over time.
Who said it better than NFL Hall of Famer, Jerry Rice, who literally accomplished 10 things no one else has ever accomplished: “Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can’t.”
The cheat code is simple, underwhelming, scientific, researched based, and maybe really obvious: Give an excessive amount of effort, over time, so you have the chance to maximize your talent.
*Stats and records referred to above for Jerry rice and the photo are credits to Pro Sports Outlook.
