What Does It Take to Succeed?

What Does It Take to Succeed?

-By Daryl Remley-

Everyday we see people who showcase their incredible abilities.

We see it on TV, in the news, and in person.

There is the pitcher who can throw with extreme accuracy.

There is the salesman who closes crazy amounts of deals.

There is the 12 year old who never misspelled a word at her state spelling bee.

We like to jump the gun and believe that it is because they are gifted.

We say that genetics is what allowed these people to reach what looks like superhuman ability.

We call something like this…talent. 

Is talent the right word to use?

There have been numerous books that talk about the fallacy of talent.

Two of the books that I have read and really recommend for anybody to read are:

Both of those books are great reads and really delve deeper into what “talent” really is.

Both agree that steady hard work over a long period of time is what produces this so-called “talent.”

To Angela Duckworth, this passion and perseverance is called grit.

Grit does not mean working all nighters to turn in a project on time.

It does not mean going all in on starting a business only to give up after a year.

Grit means persevering over a long period of time.

When I say a long-time, I mean five to ten years is what will prove if you have grit.

A person with grit has an overarching goal and will keep striving for that goal.

It is a non-stop commitment.

Besides using talent, let us pick words like grit to sum up what a lot of these successful people have.

Does calling people talented disregard the level of perseverance that they have committed to?

In my opinion, it does.

Calling people talented or merely saying that their abilities come from luck or genetics totally neglects their hard work.

The people who we admire in the specific field of work that we are in, put in tons of hours in mastering their craft.

One reason we probably like to label these super humans as talented, is because it means that we can be comfortable in knowing that we could never be at their level since we don’t have the same luck or genetics.

We are more comfortable in knowing that there is no point in trying to be like those we admire because we would never be able to reach their level even if we tried.

It is easier to know that it is not possible to achieve these amazing abilities than to try and come up short.

We need to snap out of that thought process.

Through consistently working towards our goals, we can achieve that level.

Obviously it matters how much time and effort we put it.

The person who reads a book in his field of work 1 hour a day will be further ahead than the person who reads 30 minutes a day.

Also, where we put our effort matters as well.

We have to be smart in planning how we will attack our goal. We can’t have all of these projects that we are doing at once in order to reach our goal.

Taking on too much can distract us from our path to reaching our goal.

Sometimes if we look close enough, we can get rid of a few current projects and still be on track to achieving what we want. 

Well what about People Like Tiger Woods and Warren Buffett?

Tiger Woods is one of the best golfers of our time and Warren Buffett is the best investor of our time.

They must’ve gotten to where they are because of talent right? 

Tiger Woods

What is funny, is that while searching for Tiger’s bio I came across a biography website that said that his parents “identified their son’s talent at an unusually early age. They said that he was playing with a putter before he could walk. The boy was gifted not only with exceptional playing abilities, but he also possessed a passion for the sport.”

Besides the site praising his natural abilities, we can see that from a young age his father was his teacher and mentor for the game.

When he would practice, his father would yell and scream to distract him to teach Tiger how to keep his composure on the course.

So right off the bat you can see that Tiger has been playing golf for a very very long time.

Also, his parents noticed that he had a passion.

Using Angela Duckworth’s formula for grit, you need both perseverance and passion.

Tiger definitely has both.

Sure, genetics could play a role in his abilities but golf is a mental game.

It is something that has to be practiced and that is exactly what Tiger did.

Warren Buffett

People will say that he is a natural investor, he is naturally great with numbers, and he was born for this stuff.

At the age of eleven he bought his three shares of his first stock, Cities Service Preferred at $38 per share.

He ended up selling the stock at $40 per share. After he sold the stock, the shares shot up to $200 per share.

This taught him patience.

It also probably taught him to never let that happen again.

He showed early interest in stocks and has been doing it for such a long time.

Warren was also mentored by the great investor Benjamin Graham when he studied at Columbia.

He had the passion, the perseverance, and the right mentors to help propel him to being the great investor we know today. 

Conclusion 

We need to remember to check ourselves every time we say, “Hey! That person is talented.”

We need to stop throwing around that word.

Perseverance and passion is what is called grit. Grit is what we need in order to achieve our goals.

Achieving our goals should never be viewed as a short game. We have to play the long game and plan years and years down the road.

The end goal that you have set, keep it there and work your way to it. As long as you keep consistently working towards it, you will be rewarded.

I also recommend watching Angela Duckworth’s Ted Talk on grit below!

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