In my experience, some people just seem to be born with the ability to achieve great things. They are undoubtedly naturals when it comes to their respective skills since they have achieved such greatness, right? How did J.K. Rowling create the incredibly captivating “Harry Potter” series? How did Steve Jobs mastermind the enormous corporation that Apple, Inc. is today? To reference one of our own, how did Melvin Gordon get nominated for the ever-respected and honorable Heisman Award? Maybe they were lucky enough to have inherited some sort of predisposition from the day they were born. But what if they weren’t born any faster or any smarter or any luckier than you or I?
Some of us will always believe that even with practice, we will always be just average at the skills at which we’ve never really excelled beyond the norm. Despite those who insist that without natural talent, one can never truly achieve greatness, there are those who argue just the opposite. In fact, research has suggested that regardless of natural talent, we can be great at virtually any skill we choose.
Don’t get me wrong, a week, a few months or even one year probably will not be enough time to practice your desired skill enough to stand out from the rest of the world. However, the idea that you can master something you’ve always wished you were good at is an uplifting premise. As referenced in a 2006 “Fortune” article, “What it takes to be great,” several well-established researchers have agreed on the “10-year rule,” which basically suggests that most people who are accomplished in a certain field have worked for at least 10 years in that area. Additionally, people who share their renowned musical or literary expertise with the world often need at least 20 or 30 years of practice before they reach their highpoints.
But practicing for a long time along isn’t going to cut it. Consistency in practice is also incredibly crucial to success. If you want to perfect your free throw shot, you’re not just going to whip the ball up toward the basket 100 times and expect to be a pro, are you? In order to achieve noticeable improvements, one must intentionally work at the task at hand.
For example, to hit a higher percentage of free throws, focus on the mechanics of your shot, and adjust accordingly each time you shoot. Be aware of your motions and think critically about to change about your shot to make it better. It’s all about deliberately practicing over and over and over. According to the article mentioned earlier, “More deliberate practice equals better performance. It’s the same story in surgery, insurance sales, and virtually every sport … Instead of merely trying to get it done, you aim to get better at it.”
So how can we incorporate these ideas into our daily lives as students? Who has the time to practice his golf swing for more than three hours each and every day? Who has time to stay up all night every night working on the next best-selling novel? I sure don’t have time to add any time-consuming practice regimen consuming to my already over-filled schedule, but I do have time to apply the little lessons that encourage active learning.
Instead of mindlessly copying notes, let’s try engaging with the information we’re writing, attempting to absorb as much as possible. Even if your exam isn’t approaching, deliberately paying attention to the notes you take the first time might just make studying a little bit easier on the back end.
Further supporting the claim that talent doesn’t always equate to success, Angela Lee Duckworth presented a Ted Talk arguing the same point. According to her profile on the Ted Talk website, “Duckworth studies intangible concepts such as self-control and grit to determine how they might predict both academic and professional success.” She described a factor called “grit,” which is basically perseverance, determination and hard work, claiming that this quality is truly the key to success above other predictors of success such as family income or IQ score. Duckworth argues, “There are many talented individuals who simply do not follow through on their commitments. In fact, in our data, grit is usually unrelated or even inversely related to measures of talent.”
So there you have it: If you can develop grit, or if you’ve even mastered it already, success might just be closer than you thought. You have the tools to do well, regardless of your prior experience in a field. Let’s be resilient together and push toward our goals no matter where we stand now. Wouldn’t it be amazing if the cure for cancer, the solution to child hunger, the next Aaron Rodgers or even the next great technological advancement came from one of our own University of Wisconsin classmates?
Payden White ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in community and nonprofit leadership and biology.
