Talent AND Hard Work is the Core of Success

By: jwilder, 2/21/2022

If we have a drive to grow and fulfill our potential, then leveraging our talents is a good place to start. I believe everyone has some sort of natural talent; something that comes easier to you than it does to others.

There should be no debate about talent versus hard work. As if talented people don’t have to work at improving. Hard work is always required, no matter how much talent we have.

We can earn a good living by working hard, even if we aren't a natural. I have had many jobs where I only used a portion of my talents, and that was enough for me, at the time. There are many things we have to learn and do in life. We don't need a lot of talent to do many of these things, but we need skills. I have made a living leveraging my skills, but they aren't my talents.

When it comes to fulfillment and following your heart and your dreams, our talents are going to be at the core of our success. For example, if my talent is thinking, I don’t have to be an Einstein. Who would pursue thinking if the requirement was Einstein! I enjoy thinking. If I enjoy thinking, then I will enjoy more thinking! Deeper thinking, wider thinking, big thinking, thinking, thinking, thinking! So hey, why not leverage that? That’s what I will use as the core. I might choose writing as a means of expressing my thoughts. I could also make videos, write songs, write code, etc. There are many ways to express the talent of thinking.

Pursuing our talents is sustainable for many reasons...

• We can improve our talents forever without getting burned out or bored.
• Our talents drive our curiosity.
• Our talents are enjoyable.
• Our talents give us a sense of significance.
• Improving out talents gives us a sense of progress.

We could say success is finding ways to maximize and express our talents to the fullest. The next step of success might be to find a way to serve others using our talents. That is the basic formula of sustainable and fulfilling success.

To your success!

James Wilder

I write about success principles and practices that help dreamers take action and achieve their goals! I believe that success is for anyone that truly desires it.

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