A Star Is Born: Where Is Genuine Talent Found?
Oscar | Oscar and his clones at a shop in Hollywood, CA. | lincolnblues | Flickr
The authors of Freakonomics describe some extremely intriguing findings from their review of a new 900-page scholarly book, The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance, which was released in 2018
(If you’re curious about how a star is created in any field, I strongly advise you to read this article.)
Three conclusions can be drawn from this extensive work:
- Talent is a highly overrated quality.
That is to say, skilled performers are almost usually created, not born, whether they are trained in memory, surgery, ballet, or computer programming. Indeed,
- It is true that practice makes perfect. Finally, here’s my personal favorite:
- You should follow your passion when it comes to choosing a career path because, in the event that you don’t enjoy it, you won’t put in the necessary effort to excel.
“Most people naturally don’t like to do things they aren’t ‘good’ at,” they continue. Thus, people frequently give up, convincing themselves that they are just not talented in arithmetic, skiing, or violin playing.
However, the reality is as follows:
The desire to be good and to engage in the purposeful practice that would improve them is actually what they lack.
When Joseph Campbell advised his students to “follow your bliss,” he was correct.
Indeed, particularly in your job. For example, you’re unlikely to put in the intentional effort necessary to become proficient at talking about your product if you don’t enjoy it.
Your prospects of success are very low if you don’t enjoy SOMETHING about your network marketing business enough to put in the time and effort to learn how to do it successfully.
What is it that you absolutely adore about what you do, then? Does it have an impact on someone’s life? Is it what money can’t buy?
Whatever makes you want to continue will do so.
If it’s nothing remarkable, maybe this isn’t the right business for you to be in. How can you not love what you do? If you don’t, others will know it.
In our line of work, one thing is certain: earning promises alone will not enough. That is, not for the 95% of dropouts.
What else, then, is challenging enough or something you love enough to keep you working methodically and purposefully, as anybody who has ever excelled at anything has done?
