Hard Work vs. Talent: What is the Formula for Success?

The debate between the significance of hard work in comparison to natural talent is something that has been a topic of conversation in regards to many different fields and professions. Scientists have spent years discussing just how much talent and other uncontrollable aspects of human development correlate to differing rates of improvements in terms of many different professions. The hardest part about learning more about this paradox is that both hard work and talent are practically immeasurable. There isn’t a way to scientifically compare two individuals and predict whether or not a person will have a natural aptitude for a skill or not. As a matter of fact, there is no way to determine whether or not there is any such thing as innate talent at all. Perhaps the person you believe to be much more naturally adept in regards to a certain skill has had other, prior experiences that have assisted them in being able to more easily grasp this particular concept with more ease. There are so many different angles to approach the topic of what factors contribute to improvement given just how many professions one can apply it to, and it is incredibly difficult to come to concrete conclusions, which is one of the reasons that this discussion continues to become more prominent. 

Let’s look at this discussion as it applies to the athletics department. The debate of how significant talent is in relation to sports has been the center of much debate for as long as sports have been a thing. Despite the complexity surrounding the topic, there is actually a lot more information that we can more easily discern in regards to the discussion of how uncontrollable aspects of human development apply to athletics in comparison to other things. 

Obviously, there are different aspects that determine someone’s physical build that are uncontrollable. Height, for example, is something no one can control, but there are other, less obvious factors that can contribute to one person being more athletically adept than another. Some of these traits can include the rate at which someone can gain weight, how your body distributes fat, how prone your body is to injury, and how your body may respond to injury.  Studies have shown that 30-80% of someone's athletic talents are in some way contributed to by their genetics. These are qualities that are individual to people, and that one can not have influence over. 

Of course, though, genetics are not an ultimatum when it comes to determining someone’s athletic performance. Someone who should ideally have the perfect body type to gain muscle mass but puts in minimal effort into building muscle will likely not be as muscular as someone with poor athletic genetics but dedicates many hours a week to their craft. Even if someone is athletically talented, they still have to put in the necessary hours to truly see strong results come to fruition. As Kevin Durant once said, hard work will most likely beat talent if talent doesn’t work hard enough. 

However, if the athletically gifted individual does put in the necessary amount of effort, is there any hope in the end for the less gifted person in the situation? Is there anything that they can do to ultimately match the results of someone with a more complementary set of genetics? The clichè answer would simply be to tell this person that any goal that they set for themselves can be accomplished with the appropriate amount of focus, grit, and overall effort. In terms of establishing a positive mindset for growth and improvement, this train of thinking is likely the correct way to go for anyone with serious aspirations in their profession of choice; however, historically and scientifically speaking, the answer is unfortunately not that straightforward. 

For starters, a good example to observe would be 23-time Olympic gold-medalist Michael Phelps. Obviously, he had to have been an extremely hard-working and determined individual to attain his almost inhumane level of success; however, through more recent observations, scientists have theorized that there might be a great deal of other factors that contributed to Phelps’ success. To describe it briefly, Phelps possessed what was essentially the most ideal body for a swimmer imaginable. He had “the torso of a man who’s 6 feet 8 inches tall… and the legs of a man 8 inches shorter.” He also carries a wingspan that is greater than his height, and he is both hyper-jointed and double-jointed in various areas throughout his body, including in both his feet and ankles, which serve as a significant advantage in success of a swimmer. When you compile all of these traits together, you are ultimately left with a man whose body is much less-susceptible to water resistance than the average human due to his torso and whose legs are so dynamic and unique that they are often compared to flippers.

The point of this example is not to discredit Phelps’ successes in any way shape or form. Again, for anyone to be argued as the greatest athlete of all-time, they would obviously have to abide by a grueling training regimen. However, with the information that is known about Phelps’ athletic gifts, it isn’t unfair to conclude that regardless of the time and work that an ‘ordinary’ person were to put into swimming, it is highly unlikely that they would ever even sniff the heights of Phelps within their swimming career. When observing the physical traits of some of the greatest athletes of all-time, it would be highly ignorant to gloss over some of the genetic factors that largely contributed to their success. Even though I personally believe that hard work plays the most important role in determining someone’s success within a field, I do think that it is important to consider the prospect of talent and how its effects are seen at top tier levels of athleticism.

The discussion of the presence of talent and its significance becomes even more complex when debating factors unrelated to athletic performance. One’s athletic success can be determined by analyzing their physical and genetic compositions, but when it comes to more broad fields, such as art, music, gardening, mathematics, or even writing, it becomes substantially more difficult to draw concrete conclusions. The simple, likely preferable answer is that since one can’t actively measure much in regards to these types of fields, the concept of “natural ability” doesn’t apply nearly as much as it would in a sport. Unfortunately, though, all of us know from a great number of our personal experiences that this is likely not the case. We’ve all come across people in our lives who simply just seem to have a knack for certain things that seem to be unexplainable. . 

I know that personally, I’ve been on both sides of the spectrum. No matter how much I would dedicate myself to anything art-related, it would always seem as if the projects I made would ultimately end up lackluster in comparison to that of my peers. I also know that despite what my younger self would like to believe, I have never been even a semi-competent dancer or singer, despite how much I would try to be as a kid. On the other hand, I can recall a lot of times where I ended up putting significantly less effort into studying for my math tests than that of my peers, and a lot of the time, I would still end up getting one of the higher grades in the class. I can also recall times where I would procrastinate an essay to the last two hours before it was done, and ultimately still end up getting a higher grade in my class. 

It seems that most people would agree that natural aptitude plays at least some role in the success of people in non-athletic fields, but how do we explain it? Despite researchers believing that genetics do play some role in the accelerated academic performance of some individuals, ultimately, a majority of questions in regards to these fields remain unanswered. It is difficult to find a solid, definitive explanation for just why some kids seem to show signs of being gifted dancers and singers from very young ages, and why some just don’t really seem to possess that x-factor. Similar to athletics, someone with a ‘natural talent’ for singing who puts rarely any work in is likely not going to exceedingly surpass someone who doesn't appear to be naturally gifted, but puts in a great deal of effort into perfecting their ability. However, this still begs the question that if the person who is naturally gifted puts in the necessary amount of effort, would the other person be able to keep up?

As I said, despite societies’ extended studies into the subject, a great majority of these questions still remain unanswered. For someone who is passionate about improving themselves in regards to a certain subject, this conversation is likely not only not beneficial in any ways, but it is also likely to do more harm than good in relation to their aspirations. Worrying about whether or not you naturally have what it takes to achieve success in a certain field is objectively a waste of time and will only hinder your progress. However, when it comes to observing things from an outsider’s perspective, things become a lot more interesting to discuss. 

Personally, I still believe that the concept of natural talent is something that is real, and is something that is hard to deny given just how many years its been studied On the other hand, I do believe that the ability to know how to learn something is an equally important skill, and the absence of this skill can lead a great number of people to feel at odds when it comes to improving their abilities in a certain area. 

The concept of ‘work smarter, not harder’ definitely applies to this more than people would like to give it due credit for. A lot of people, myself included, will expect the amount of time put into a certain subject to directly correlate to results, most  of the time, just isn’t true. A lot of the time, if you practice for two hours with a dedicated goal in mind, you’ll experience a more noticeable level of improvement than someone who has spent six hours practicing with no real focus. Natural ability can definitely play an important role in things, but a lot of the time, individuals who are stuck feeling like they’ve plateaued are doing so based on their own merit. People are constantly throwing themselves at a brick wall because they refuse to re-evaluate their approach to their craft. Regardless of the existence of natural ability or not, no one has ever gotten to be elite in any art, sport, academic subject, or anything else without putting in a large amount of practice. Putting too much emphasis on natural ability is only harmful to those who wish to dedicate their time to excel in something. There are real complexities to this discussion that, although may not reap concrete answers, can aid the individual in their quest to improve themself.  The ability to analyze and understand these factors can be revolutionary in terms of someone’s ability to achieve their desired success in their passion of choice. 

By Kailen Hicks