Richard Hogan: Talent is not a gift, but the product of hard work

Success isn't just about attainment - but about the hard work we don't see.

It is very easy to fall into the myriad traps the modern world has waiting for us. Ubiquitous information means we are never turned off, we are always plugged into something. We stay busy for fear of being left behind, constantly feeding on social media to stay relevant and seeking approval from people we care little about, the modern list could go on and on. However, one of the biggest traps, I see in my work as a psychotherapist, is the talent concept. 

The notion of talent is a very mysterious thing. The hand of providence seems to brush over more than others. The talented are mercurial creatures, moody and elusive. I’m thinking of Bob Dylan? How does it come to land on one person and give them such a bounty of gifts while ignoring others? The notion of talent is quite an exclusive thing. You either have it or you don’t. 

You certainly can’t make yourself talented – that’s for the gods to decide. And if you are lucky enough that those irascible deity’s smile on you, well then you must keep the secrete to yourself and when questioned about it remain aloof and bored with all you have. I’m definitely thinking of Bob Dylan.

We have mixed feelings towards talent, too. We have little time for those among us who are not! And loath those who think they are, but are not! And of course worship those who are. We place them on a modern day Olympus, to revere. Imagining what wonderful lives they must lead. Yes, being selected by the gods to have talent means a life without care, a life of plenty. And so when you win awards you must make an offering in supplication to those who have given you all! 

That’s why at Oscars, BAFTA’s, Emmys, Grammy’s, Golden Globes etc you must thank whichever of your gods has endowed you with so much. Well, you rarely hear any award winner tell the truth, they rarely explain the incredible sacrifice and hard work they put into becoming who they are. And thus, help to keep the talent myth alive and well. 

This is why I think the concept of talent is a modern trap because it is such a disempowering concept and the truth is; talent is work ethic. Boring. Perhaps I should extend my equation and say; talent is when early interest meets work ethic. 

What I mean by this is that when you become interested in something at an early age, when the plasticity in the brain is at its most responsive and you become interested in something and you work at improving your competency, talent develops. Of course some bodies develop earlier and some people have an advantage over others because of their size and capacity to process oxygen and the speed of twitch fibres firing. But the reality is all of those things developed through hard work and dedication to development.

Nobody ever really talks about what it takes to achieve success. I’m not talking about making huge sums of money, but rather making something you are working at succeed. We can all look at the outliers in our society like Elon Musk, Ronaldo, Usain Bolt, Steve Jobs etc and think, ‘well I could never be them’. 

But the reality is more like you didn’t have their interests when you were young and so didn’t put the energy into what they were hoping to achieve and so therefore, nope, you’re not them but you can succeed. I meet many clients who seek out therapy because they have become depressed thinking like that. And of course that would be a very disempowering and destructive way to view yourself. In the words of T.S Eliot ‘No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be’. If I look at Bob Dylan and think, ‘why did I not get that gift?’ 

It is certainly going to lead me down a sinuous road of despair. Because I will never be Bob Dylan much the same way I will never be Elon Musk. So chasing something that doesn’t exist or berating yourself for not being someone you are not is a futile way of thinking but understandable because the modern world has a tendency to make us think like that. It can make us think that we are less important or less relevant because we are not the ones building futuristic cars, rockets or writing Grammy award winning songs. Not doing those things doesn’t make your life less meaningful or insignificant. And viewing the people who do those things as perfect and living flawless lives is just an error in your thinking. Our children should reach for the stars. We should teach them that those who succeed are those who are willing to work hard. 

Those who, when confronted by failure, didn’t talk to themselves negatively but rather decided to try a little harder. Talent is something you develop, not something given to a select few. When our children realise this anything is possible.