Talent October 03, 2010, 05:27:54 AM
”Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life; define yourself.” ~Harvey Fierstein (read in his voice)
A very good friend, many years ago, also told me that I should never feel the need to justify myself to anyone. If they don’t like it, it doesn’t mean you have to explain anything.
With that, I open with my views on talent which was inspired by this article: Persistence is better than Talent.
I don’t believe in talent. You may be born with a natural tendency towards something or the ability to understand something differently than others would. But that needs to be developed by practice. I dislike the word “talent” since it implies a mysterious strength in a particular field that can be only possessed by few people.
Your mind is your greatest enemy. If you see someone that’s good, you don’t sit there passively and go “oh well, it’s because he/she has TALENT, I’ll never be THAT good.” Bullshit. Believe in yourself and practice and practice and find new ways of thinking. New ways of looking at whatever it is you’re working on. Sticking to tradition only results in you living in it’s shadow forever.