Author : John Watson
There is no need to be envious of those who seem more talented or skilful than you. Some experts say that if you work hard and practice for many hours, you can equal the abilities of the talented. You may even out perform them. You may see your own talent emerge out of nothing.It is only too easy to become envious of people who appear more talented than you. Everything seems to come easily to them.My web designer can run rings round me when it comes to designing a great website and organizing uploads and downloads etc.However, my typing speed is superior to his! Why? Because I have practiced typing without looking at the keys for years and he hasn't. If he had put in the same amount of time typing and using the same methods that I have, his talent for typing might well equal or even overshadow mine. .If I put in the same hours that he has web designing, my skills in this area might equal his. I am still trying to catch up with him but it will be a long haul!In some martial arts, students are awarded higher grades on the basis of the hours they train in class. Some students excel by training on their own at home as well.The extra hours they put in soon become obvious when they attend class. They can even out perform the naturally talented who do not train as hard as they do. Hard work can give you the edge over the talented but lazy personStudies by researchers have shown that the difference between expert musicians concerned the 'amounts of time they had spent in solitary practice during their music development.' It did not depend on their IQ and other traits in which they were found to be only average.The best experts had put in 10,000 hours of practice by the age of twenty. The least accomplished experts had practiced for 5,000 hours. Serious amateur pianists had put in 2000 hours.Studies by Ericsson, Sloboda, Starkes and others have shown that the 'accumulated amount of deliberate practice is closely related to the attained level of performance of many types of experts such as musicians, chess players and athletes.'In other words practice deliberately and consistently and you will attain high levels of performance which are superior to the performance of those who have practiced less than you. You will appear talented to any observer.Such studies can give us all hope. Spending deliberate hours of practice can improve our skills and talents. Studies of the talented do not reveal higher IQ's or special abilities beyond the norm. They just practice more than the average person. They are ready to work harder than the average.Tony Buzan, the great educational expert, believes that great things can happen to all of us. He teaches:"Genius is trainable. It is teachable. It is nurturable. If you look at all the people called geniuses in history they shared common characteristics. It wasn't a bigger IQ. It wasn't a bigger brain."What was it then? Buzan answers:"It was persistence in pursuit of a vision."Geniuses and high achievers show extraordinary self-motivation and focus. They are no cleverer than the rest of the human race but they are willing to work much harder than the majority.We should all then expect great things of ourselves. We have the potential to achieve amazing things. We could all change human history.Churchill was seen as a bit of a dunce at school but he knew how to 'persist in pursuit of a vision'. He counseled the nation to never give up in the face of Nazi aggression. His vision of freedom came true because he kept fighting in the face of overwhelming odds. He held on to his dream of victory.We all have awesome brains. Too often we don't make the most of them. Some experts, like Tony Buzan, believe that anyone can be a genius. They just need to work hard and discover the potential within them.However, there are other experts who believe you have to be born with great talent and then have to combine this talent with powerful character traits like determination, focus and persistence.The notorious Simon Cowell, the pop idol critic, who is famous for speaking the truth as he sees it, believes that pop singers are born and not made.When he went to America and was one of the judges on the 'American Idol' panel, many people were shocked at his comments. Part of the American dream is that anyone can achieve anything if they believe and try hard enough. With a dream like this, it is no wonder that the USA still leads the world in so many areas of life.In the UK, many people are now sceptical about everything. Such scepticism did not make Britain great.Simon Cowell exported this scepticism to the USA and exploded the dreams of hundreds of young Americans by telling them that they could not sing however hard they tried.When one young man asked if lessons would help, he brutally replied:"You could take two thousand lessons and still not be able to sing."One of Simon's fellow panelists, Paula Abdul, was shocked at his comments and much preferred to let people down easily by saying that training might well help them. Cowell described her attitude as patronising.However, after a year or so of mutual hatred, they are now the best of friends. Many Americans say that they appreciate Simon's truthfulness.There is, of course, some truth in Simon's approach. Some dreams really are impossible. A power lifter is not likely to succeed as a ballet dancer and vice versa. Humans can run fast but they can't take off and fly without the aid of machines.SIimon can be amusing. It is easy to be amusing when you are criticizing others. He was asked if he could sing by a member of the audience. "No," he replied, "but after hearing that lot last night, I'm beginning to think I can!"I was slung out of the school choir at the age of eight for 'growling'. After hearing some modern singers whose 'growling' voices enhance their popularity, I am beginning to think that I, too, missed a huge opportunity!People like Simon can destroy the hopes of a whole group of people. Possibly they would all fail as pop singers but how can we be sure? Some of the singers criticized by him in the UK went on to make their names in the pop business.In the end, the only way to find out which expert is right is to test out what they say.This involves practising a skill for roughly an hour or more a day and recording the number of hours you spend practicing. It may take hundreds of hours of practice before you see indisputable signs of improvement or even talent. It may take much less.It may take thousands of hours of practice to become world class at some skill. Progress also depends on how well you are taught the principles behind what you are doing and on your natural abilities.Don't give up when the first critic speaks. Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley and The Beatles would never have made a dent in the music world if they had listened to their critics.Don't give up because of your age. Julius Caesar did not discover his military genius until he was in his forties. Churchill did not become a world leader until he was in his sixties.In the world of the entrepreneurs, Colonel Sanders showed great persistence in pursuit of his dream. Kentucky Fried Chicken, with its eleven herb recipe, would not exist without his persistence. He was in his sixties when he started his first franchise. He is a great example to every pensioner in the world.Don't give up because results are slow in coming. Keep planting the seeds through daily hard work and eventually the results will show up. Even if they don't, you will have transformed yourself into a powerful person who can follow through on their plans.John Watson is an award winning teacher and 5th degree blackbelt martial arts instructor. He has written several ebooks on motivation and success topics. One of these can be found at http://www.motivationtoday.com/36_laws.phpYou can also find motivational ebooks by authors like Stuart Goldsmith. Check out http://www.motivationtoday.com/the_midas_method.phpFeel free to reprint this article in its entirety in your ezine or on your site but please include the resource box above
Keyword : talent,genius,goals,practice,dreams,pop idol,churchill,dylan,beatles,cowell,caesar,buzan
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