It Was Never About Talent!

Do you ever worry that you are not talented enough to make a go of it in a creative field? Do you watch these hacks on the televised talent shows who are reduced to tears when they are rejected and fear that maybe that is you? Perhaps you too are just a deluded simpleton with no real talent and you will never be able to run with the big boys?

Well, you are asking the wrong question. It is not about talent. How many times have you been shocked at the pour quality of the writing of a best seller? How many popular bands have you heard who would be rejected if they appeared on one of these talent competitions today? Talent alone is not what makes or breaks a person.

It has never been about talent, but neither is it about dumb luck. While there are obviously those individuals that have success handed to them, that should not be the goal of the truly passionate person. It is a million to one shot, and such individuals cannot appreciate it the way you and I do. These are the starlets and one-hit-wonders that self-destruct in very short order because they have not worked for what they have. They did not have to pay the price of sacrifice and discipline that we pay. They have not carried with them into their success the rigid armor of discipline that humbles and fortifies them, but you will. Not because you believe you are more talented or smarter than everyone else, but because you paid the price of discipline and self-sacrifice that was demanded of you and that has made all the difference.

Though you may feel that your are spinning your wheels uselessly at square one, you are not. You are climbing The Path to self actualization that most people do not yet know exists. Sure you have backslid, made dumb mistakes, and even rested in particularly challenging spots far longer than you should have, but all that travail has given you an intimate understanding of the challenges that walking this path truly holds. That understanding is the very thing we are talking about that differentiates the mature artist from the one-hit-wonder. It is a knowledge that those who have not yet had the courage to try cannot even comprehend. As frustrating as it is to continually fall down, to feel the perceived indifference to your efforts, remember this: It was never about talent, it was always about perseverance!

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated failures. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” – Calvin Coolidge