Natasha Victoria Medina Alvarado

PC 101L Life Skills

Sister Savanna Magtalas

July 17th, 2022

Hard Work Reaches What Talent Can´t

Yokoi Kenji, a famous conference speaker, and motivational coach wisely said "When

I saw that I didn't have any exceptional talent, I found discipline, and then it turned out that I

had several talents. That's why for me, everyone who determines to qualify, qualifies." Like

Mr. Kenji, I remember feeling not talented enough to do something even though I

experienced the fruits of effort and discipline many times before, never thought about these

as something that could overcome talent limitations. However, Both Recent teachings and life

experiences have taught me that hard work and dedication will always prevail over talent

because even talent requires to be worked and improved to reach success. 

  Firstly, recent teachings, as well as some expert testimony, have proven to me that

hard work can conquer all, especially what we conceive as talent. The word “Neuroplasticity”

came to me as a regular lesson through my experience in the PathwayConnect course, but it

was the tool to open up my eyes. The psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Norman Doidge, in his

book “The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of

Brain Science" (2007) wrote about this term, explaining that: “the brain changes its very

structure with each different activity it performs, perfecting its circuits so it´s better suited to

the task at hand." In other words, we all are capable of “perfect” ourselves, improving and

adapting, developing skills to better fulfill a task. But how does this happens? Aristotle, an

expert philosopher, and scientist famously said: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence,
then, is not an act, but a habit.” so the key to shaping our brain and developing abilities

remains in habits, practice, repeated efforts, which is, hard work itself.

  Besides those recent and helpful teachings, my life experiences have taught me the

weight of hard work over what I thought was natural in me as a product of my talent. I

remember having 6 or 7 years old and feeling pretty comfortable about participating in a

singing contest because singing in tune was something I could handle naturally. Even though

I had some previous practice, I didn´t do much cause I thought I was more than ready to win.

Nevertheless, when the big day came I only got second place. The first place was a boy I didn

´t consider much talented, yet he knew a lot about pitch, posture, breathing, diction, all of the

fundamental singing elements I completely ignored. Again, it was hard work and preparation

that set the difference between an “Acceptable" 2nd place and an “Excellent” 1st.

  Most people, at least once in their lives, have thought of talent as a definitive

advantage and have favored those who believe are gifted. It´s such a common way of

thinking that according to Angela Duckworth and her Book “Grit: The Power of Passion and

Perseverance”, this would be called a “fixed mindset”. Still, well it might be common that

doesn´t remove all the evidence that proves that talent by itself doesn´t produce effective

results. About This, Elder F. David Stanley said in 1993 in a conference titled “The Principles

of Work”: “Great athletes are hard workers. Points, rebounds, assists, tackles, goals, and

home runs are all the result of long hours of painstaking practice and hard work.” and while

he continued expressing, he added that “Victory is brought to pass by one’s personal

diligence and commitment to hard work”, so what we consider talented when watching tv, or

while observing a sports match is nothing more than previous efforts we didn´t see.

Without a doubt, having a natural predisposition to do something like I had, it´s just

the starting point, it might take you to a contest, and might open an opportunity, but what´s

going to determine whether you fail or succeed is, in the words of Mr. David Stanley “your
commitment to hard work”. Robert Griffin III, a famous and successful American Football

Player said: “Hard work pays off, hard work beats talent any day, but if you’re talented and

work hard, it’s hard to be beat.”. No matter your circumstance, your age, or if you think you

have a talent or not, remember that is in your hands to reshape your brain, learn, improve and

gain new skills. now the big question is... Are you up for the Challenge?