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HOW IMPORTANT IS TALENT IN ACHIEVING SUCCESS



Fixed Mindset

Many people think that talent in sport is the defining factor in success but when you look deeply into the lives of successful sportsmen and women it is not talent that dictates success it is their Mindset. 99% of people believe that some people are born with talent and that some people are naturally lucky, they also believe that if they are not born talented or lucky they won’t achieve success. This is known as a fixed mindset – these people believe they have the hand that they were given and that they can’t change it.


Growth Mindset

Fortunately there is an opposite of a fixed mindset and this is a growth mindset, but unfortunately this is only adopted by 1% of people. They believe that new skills can be developed regardless of one’s current talent or intelligence, through knowledge, skill acquisition and plain hard work.


This is why only a select few achieve success and it is also why so many people don’t achieve their goals in life and consequently live a life of disappointment and mediocrity.


A Fixed Mindset makes people believe that hard work is optional or not necessary because they think that they are either:

  • Talented, so they don’t need to improve, or……

  • Not talented, so there is no point in improving because their skill/talent is fixed and can’t be improved.

A driver with a fixed mindset can become protected, they don’t try and cover up for this by making excuses... or they can try and cheat their way to success.


The 1% of people who have a growth mindset benefit from the knowledge that they:

  • Know that to get good at something they have to work consistently over a period of time

  • They also know that they have to continue to work at it to maintain a high level

  • They don’t focus on personal limits

  • They embrace challenges as opportunities to grow

  • They use failure and mistakes as a means to gaining knowledge and as motivation to improve, not… a reason to stop taking action and give up. “I've failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed” (Michael Jordan)

Ultimately it’s not about perfection – this can paralyze you and de-motivate you, it’s about persistence and getting better and better. “Hard work beats talent if talent doesn’t work hard” (Anon)

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