TALENTS: ILLUSTRATIONS

Seems there was a talented young man in the Midwest. There were terrible fires in Yellowsont National Park burning thousands of acres. This young man was gifted with the camera and could capture the heart of crisis on film. So a well known national magazine hired the young man to picture this disaster for their cover story. The young man packed his bags, his cameras and film and left on his assignment of the fires at Yellowstone National Park. The national magazine asked him to capture and show the heroic measures of the thousands of fire fighters. When the young photographer arrived, he ran into a problem he had not anticipated for he realized that the smoke was so dark and thick, that it made it impossible to picture the scenes from the ground. The young man called into the magazine office and sought permission to charter a small plane so he could take pictures from overhead. The magazine made arrangements at the local airport and the call returned to him that a small plane would be waiting on the runway. He jumped into his rented car and away he rushed to the airport. There was a real young man sitting in a small single engine aircraft. As instructed, the plane’s engine was fueled, and warmed for take off. The young photographer had his cameras and film ready and threw all the gear into the back-seat of the plane. He closed the door and said, " READY FOR TAKE OFF!" The young man proceeded down the runway. The plane was shaking and very rough. When in the air the Pilot asked, HOW WAS THAT?" The Pilot SEEMED VERY NERVOUS as the little plane lifted higher and higher into the wind. The young talented photographer had not experienced such a jerky flight, but he requested the Pilot to fly over the park. The photographer asked the Pilot to fly real low, near the fires. "Why?" asked the Pilot. "Because I am on assignment, I am a photographer, and photographers need to be close to the action to take photographs." The Pilot was very quiet for a few minutes, and he broke the silence saying, " I thought you were the flight instructor?"

Hard work beats talent

I think most people have an oversimplified misconception about what talent actually is. Most people think being talented at something means the person is naturally good at this thing. They think Mozart just naturally know how to play piano and how to compose music. No. Even child prodigies need to actually learn to do something. Nobody was born with knowledge or skills. People think talent means this person has a better understanding of certain things, which allows them to learn/master something faster. That’s perhaps something you see looking from the outside. But I think talent is a focus, and the ability to enjoy the work. Having talent means you can be more focused on something, more so than other people. You are less likely to get distracted. You think about this thing constantly, even when you’re not actually doing it. Da Vinci was on the record observing the flow of water and draw it for hours on end. When people put that kind of focus and effort into something, they will get very good at doing it. And when most other people get tired and frustrated, people with talent have that passion and focus to push it through. You can’t force people to play piano for 14 hours a day, it doesn’t work like that. (You should not force your kids to do it. Really, please don’t. You can’t beat talent out of someone.) But people with “talent” enjoy doing it. They found joy in tasks others find tiresome and frustrating. That’s why truly talented people often make their work seem effortless. Not because they don’t put in the work, but because the work seems such a joy for them, and it almost looks as if it doesn’t take effort. Talent means nothing if you don’t put in the work. Or, talent is the ability to work harder than others and didn’t feel like you’re working.