I still remember the short play that me and my friends had performed in college. My acting was ineffective. The play was a disaster.
I’m generally the last person to finish the trek. You can ask my friends.
My first pick and speak at my office speaking club sucked.
I can’t run fast.
I’m terrible at drawing.
You get the point – I don’t have much of a talent. I even hate the word talent. Google says talent is a natural ability or aptitude at something.
Natural ability? Seriously? So it is all about being lucky? So you need to have it in you from birth? I mean, what can I do if it wasn’t in my genes to be able to play piano naturally? And whom should I blame if I’m not a natural tennis player?
While I was having a difficult time accepting this ‘fact’, I came across this article in Harvard Business Review that flipped my beliefs upside down.
It said that, the belief “Some people are born with special talents and gifts, and that the potential to truly excel in any given pursuit is largely determined by our genetic inheritance” is just a myth. And that there is enough scientific research that is challenging this assumption.
Wow, what a revelation!
I liked this. I wanted to believe this more. I read more. My belief that talent is not from birth/genes became stronger.
Today I see the world differently. Today if you come to me and say Sachin Tendulkar is a gifted batsmen, I will snap back at you to say “No, he isn’t”. He has worked it up from ground. He trains daily even now, even on Diwali, even when he is on a holiday. He went to play the world cup match the day following his father’s death. What does it say about him? It says – his love for the game, his dedication, his hard work deserves credit and not his talent.
You can’t tell me that my friend Rohan is an artist because of his talent or inborn ability. He has quit his job to pursue his passion. He does work. Shouldn’t you call that commitment? It is because of the work he does and not his genes that brings the art out of him.
With all that said, I can’t explain Mozart. And so many more. I don’t intend to. All I want to do, is thank Aristotle for what he said
“We are what we repeatedly do”
I will print and stick this on my wall of my mind and forget about birth-gifts and genes and talents.
There is this universal definition of the word talent which says talent is a natural ability to succeed. And there is my definition of talent where I say it is just a skill acquired over time because of the work and commitment. I’d like to believe in the latter. I’d like to believe I can do anything. I’d like to believe it takes effort and practice to learn any skill. Works for me.
You, what do you believe in?
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Good post. You are not alone. I have tried my hand in various sports and I have realized I am just not cut out for it. I tried classical music and piano, found out I am equally miserable there.
I do gardening. I am OK, I spend more than I reap.
I ride bike and run. Cannot compete, but do it sufficiently to keep me fit.
Your question “What do you believe in.” That is a great question. People don’t generally ask questions like this. They just go along through their boring life like a log aimlessly floating in water. They buy stuff, everybody does hat, so what what is special in it?
My belief is in lifelong learning. I had the passion for reentering college, but that won’t work, not when you are near retirement. But, I have found an alternative. MOOCs – Massive Open Online Courses. I already finished two, one in Mathematical Thinking taught by Keith Devlin of Stanford and one in Genetics taught by Mohamed Noor of Duke. Both, great professors and great courses. I finished both with distinction. These are FREE. If one is interested go to coursera.org. Noor is teaching it again starting in January 2013 (I highly recommend this). I have also signed up for tons of other MOOCs.
Kudos to your spirit
I am glad you point it out Soma – lifelong learning.
My mindset has always been to get a certificate/degree for the learning I do. Sure I need to show it someone else and in my resume. Sadly here the whole purpose of learning is defeated.
Learning is for the sake of learning, a basic human urge. Learning is for creating value. And there are lot of free resources now that are available for doing that. This thought excites me!
most of us have conditioned our minds for us to be good at “something”.Set boundaries for ourselves. Its time we explore the un-talented talent in “us”
. Nice post.
Soma Murthy: Like for the “MOOC’s”
Thank you for your comment!
Dear Anil,
Excellent post to remind us of “We are what we repeatedly do” and to relating tat with Sachin
Dear Soma Murthy,
Thank you for the information on the coursera.org.
Glad you like it
Good post Anil
If you haven’t heard of the terms “10000 hour rule” and “deliberate practice”, read this:
http://calnewport.com/blog/2010/01/06/the-grandmaster-in-the-corner-office-what-the-study-of-chess-experts-teaches-us-about-building-a-remarkable-life/
Also read this:
http://www.swaroopch.com/blog/cal-newport-so-good-book/
Roshan – I read both the links. Both insightful. Thanks a lot for sharing.
[...] and sat down. Today, I am jobless and free and I’ve also written a post where I argue that there is nothing that comes from birth, it is acquired over time, the talent. I told myself – ‘It shouldn’t be a big [...]