Talent: Innate or Learned

How do people become exceptionally talented? Are they born with it? Do they have to practice to get where they are? Perhaps they need a balance of the two. Becoming great is not simple, or easy, otherwise everybody would be great, and no one would be great. Whether it’s natural or developed talent, great people have an extra amount of talent. Some people have a great amount of natural talent, and it seems like they were just born to be amazing. In orchestra, some people are better than me at violin, even though I practice more. This is because they have so much natural talent that they can just pick it up and start playing. And there are child prodigies that play music or read and write at a very early age. So, does everyone have natural talent with something? Can everyone be great if they find their calling? The article What is takes to be Great by Geoffrey Colvin answers these questions. It states that there are people who are born to do things, because of their background, appearance, or innate abilities, but that alone cannot make you great. There are many other factors that go into making someone great, and without all of them, you won’t be great. You need practice, support, the right mindset, and natural talent. All of these are critical if you want to be great. Of course, practice is an extremely important factor. Every exceptional person has an intense practice schedule, just look at how much the olympians train to get gold. However, the way they practice also has an impact on how they perform. My orchestra director, Mr. Koehn is always telling us that we don’t have to practice a lot, we just have to practice smart. For example, don’t practice the parts of the song you can already play, just play the parts you have trouble with. Also, my pitching coach’s favorite quote is “Perfect practice makes perfect.” If you practice a curveball for an hour, but you’re pitching it wrong, it’s not going to make you better. In fact, it would probably make you worse.