“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” – Tim Notke
I grew up living this quote.
At 5’5”, keeping up with other athletes over 6 feet was challenging. My parents allowed me to attend camps, two-a-day practices, and private coaches to help elevate my game. This quote was great for posturing my mentality to compete against others.
But what about when your opponent isn’t a kid from another team?
While reading Angela Duckworth’s Grit, I came across this quote, “Without effort, your talent is nothing more than your unmet potential. Without effort, your skill is nothing more than what you could have done but didn’t. With effort, talent becomes skill and, at the very same time, effort makes skill productive (p. 51).” As you read this, I hope some lightbulbs were turning on.
Give effort to the skills you want/need to be your most productive self.
By the way, I am 5’7” today. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.