As we all know, talent is considered as a natural gift that someone is born with. However, in reality, and with the heavy demands from life itself, natural talent alone may not be all that is required in order to achieve success. What truly makes one outstanding is not just what they are born with, but how they have developed it through practice and consistency. You may have seen footballers play and you may pick interest in some of them because of their outstanding performance, and you may even say that they are talented. But if they tell you how long they have trained and practised, you will understand that talent needs to be built on in order to make one outstanding.
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One of the things that I have understood in life is that there is no individual which is born without a unique talent. Of course, every human that is born has potentials, but you are the one to determine if you will turn your potentials into excellence by your actions, and daily practice. Trust me, a lot of people also have the same talents that you think you have. So in order to have an edge in this world that is already becoming heavily competitive as the days go by is by sharpening your talent. It is what you use often and build that will become better, otherwise it may become obsolete.
It is worthy to note that talent is not coequal to skill. That is, that you have talent or you were born with it, does not automatically correlate to skill. It is by putting in works into your talent, practising with consistency, that you will become skillful. For example, you may be born with a level of muscles on your arms. But if you want the muscles to become more pronounced and bigger, then you have to build them up by gyming and doing some intense bodybuilding exercises over time. It is when you have worked on your talent to sharpen it that it will become a skill.
To sharpen your talent, you have to be dedicated to practice. Remember that it is not what you do only when you feel like, or what you do once in a while. If you must achieve outstanding results, then consistency of practice has to be your watchword. I remember watching a documentary about Christiano Ronaldo, who has been regarded by many as one of the best footballers that the world has ever seen. Many people may say that he has natural talent, but a lot of others also possess the same talent. From the documentary, it was revealed that he was made out of hard work. During his time in the Premier League and La Liga, he was so committed to training. He would be the first to arrive at the training ground and would leave after everyone has left. No wonder the feats he achieved in the world of football.
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It is by practising that you will discover the strengths within you that you need to consolidate on, and also the weakness that needs to be worked on. You also have the opportunity to experiment as much as you can, make mistakes, learn from them, become better, and then gain mastery. Just to let you know, you can be born with talent but not skills. Anyone who you see as skillful gained the skill through practice. Throughout history, most of the people who made some of the most impact in life did not rely so much on their natural gifts or their talents, but they were able to practise beyond their peers. Take the man Thomas Edison for example. History has it that he is among the elite scientists and inventors. But looking at how he got there, you will agree with me that it took him years of training and practice. At some points, he practised almost a thousand times for one of his inventions. No wonder he achieved so much in the field of physics.
It is worth noting that someone who is not as talented but who works hard will beat someone who is talented but does not work hard. Without dedication and hard work, talent may not deliver as much as required. You also need to know that sharpening your talent is not what you can achieve in a day or overnight, but it requires a continuous process. This is because growth takes time, and to achieve something worthwhile, you have to put in work and patience.
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