Johnson 1

Regan Johnson

Mrs. Cramer

Comp Pd. 4

7 December 2018

Hard Work vs Talent: Why the Work is Worth the While

Why does a person with a natural talent believe that one does not have to work hard to

become successful? One could discuss the importance of hard work and how it can be more

valuable than having a talent. This debate is significant because this controversy has been

apparent for hundreds of years, discussing the pros and cons of talent, but hard work has limited

negatives. Comparing hard work to talent is like comparing studying to good grades. If one

studies or works hard, this person will be rewarded with good grades, or talent in this case. One

could be handed all the material to become successful in both cases, but it must be applied as

well.1 Hard work is more important than talent because one must have grit in order to be

successful, and the outcome of hard work is more rewarding than that of talent.

First, the reward resulting in hard work will have more value to a person than talent

would, since talent is an inborn aptitude. Talent will be defined differently by each person, as

every individual is different, and has different perspectives from one another (Ulrich and

Smallwood). Someone with a natural born talent will not have as much of an appreciation for

hard work as one with a natural talent does. Individuals have different perspectives on this

debate. A hard worker will define success more positively than someone naturally talented will,

1Analogy- This is an analogy that compares hard work and talent to schoolwork and good grades, to show that one
must put in the hard work in order to become successful.
 Johnson 2

because a hard worker had to put in the energy to succeed. One who is born with talent will not

tend to work as hard as someone who is not naturally talented. An individual will have to work

hard to gain skills that can make this person successful (Inspiria). Since untalented, or someone

not as talented, must work to gain skills, this individual will learn more and have more valuable

information and life lessons than someone naturally talented. One who is naturally talented will

tend to take talent for granted, as one who does not have a natural ability must work hard to lead

oneself to success. Overall, a hard worker will gain more life lessons and get a positive outcome

from developing skills than one who is not willing to work as hard.

On the other hand, one who believes talent overpowers hard work would believe talent is

more official and gets noticed more than hard work does. But talent can only get a person so far.

If a talented person is not working hard, or being careless, eventually a hard worker will outshine

and surpass this talented person and become more successful. Talent does not get noticed more

than hard work. Hard work stands out more than talent to a coach, teacher, or an employer. A

great example of this would be the women’s high school soccer coach’s speech from Bradford

Area High School. At the 2018 season soccer banquet, Warren Shaw gave a speech about the

season and mentioned the importance of talent versus hard work. He explained how he, along

with other coaches notice when an athlete is working hard, or is improving, but also notices

when a person is not. He continued to say that the team is talented. At times, some of the athletes

who are naturally talented do not want to put forth the effort, and it is noticed. It is something

that the team struggled with throughout the season. It was not until later that individuals started

to finally realize the problem. When one of these players does put in the effort, this person is a

great player, does great things for the team, and becomes a great role model. 2 This contributes to

2 Anaphora- This is an anaphora that repeats the word “great” to give the sentence emphasis and make it stronger.
 Johnson 3

the success and plays a big role for the team in winning games, which is something the team

became proud of towards the end of the season (Shaw, Warren). All in all, hard work gets

noticed more than talent, whether someone is working hard or is not.

Next, one must have grit in order to become successful. Skills and achievements are

considered and can have a different result, depending on the amount of talent and effort put in

(Puiu, Ionela 55). If an individual is willing to put in the time and effort to get the outcome that

one wishes, this person will succeed. For someone not naturally talented, skills cannot be

developed without hard work, which is why grit is an important quality to have in becoming

successful. A person must have the willingness and desire to succeed. The basic talent equation

according to What is Talent states, “Talent = competence x commitment x contribution.” (Ulrich

and Smallwood). According to this equation, one cannot become talented and successful if this

person is not committing, competing, and contributing effort. It is important for one to have

goals and strive to reach every goal. To do this, one must follow the basic talent equation.

Having competition also allows for a person to want something more and continue to work

toward one’s goal. Totally, if one fully commits and is a hard worker, this person is expressing

grit, and therefore, is working hard enough to become a success.

Conversely, it can be argued that a person does not have to put in as much effort if one is

naturally talented. On the other hand, one must put in the time and effort to become successful.

Improvement will stand out to someone more than consistency. Although a person may be

talented, the person who is working hard every day could eventually outwork one who is

naturally talented. One would be expecting to get everything handed over, even though this

person is not putting in the effort. The story of Michael Jordan is a great example of this. When

Jordan was a sophomore in high school, he tried out for his school’s basketball team and was not
 Johnson 4

accepted onto the team because he was too short.3 He continued to work hard and practice

throughout the next year and he made the team the following year. After putting in all this time

and effort to reach his goal, he eventually was offered opportunities, such as going to a large

division one college, which later led him to play in the NBA. If he had not continued to put in the

time and effort to improve, he would not have the talent that he developed and the opportunities

that he had (Encyclopedia). This applies for anyone else whether the talent comes from a

profession, sport, or school. All in all, to become successful, a person must be a hard worker and

this person will get a positive outcome, such as a reward, from doing this.

All in all, hard work exceeds talent because one must have the grit and willingness to

succeed, and the reward resulting from hard work is more valuable than that of talent. The

reward resulting from hard work will be more valuable than the reward of talent, as the reward is

given in talent, and not earned as it is in hard work. But a person still must put in effort if one is

naturally talented because a hard worker could surpass this person. Hard work will be noticed

more than talent is, as it stands out more in certain cases. On the other hand, a person with

natural talent will tend to not work as hard because this person feels one does not need to. In the

end, hard work is a quality that exceeds natural talent.

3Euphemism- This is an example of euphemism because instead of saying Jordan was cut from the team, a more
appreciable way to write this statement would be to say that he was not accepted onto the team because of his
height.
 Johnson 5

Works Cited
Encyclopedia of World Biography. “Michael Jordan Biography.” Encyclopedia of World

Biography, Advameg, Inc., 2018. Web. 28 Nov. 2018.

Inspiria Knowledge Campus. “What is More Important Talent or Hardwork?” Inspiria

Knowledge Campus. 19 July 2018. Web. 20 Sep. 2018.

Ionela Puiu, Andreea. “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance.” International Journal of

Applied Behavorial Economics 6.3 (2017): 55-57. Google Scholar. Web. 19 Sep. 2018.

Shaw, Warren. 2018 Bradford Area High School Soccer Banquet. Bradford Area High School

Soccer Booster Club.

Ulrich, Dave and Norm Smallwood. Abstract. What is talent? 7 Dec. 2011. Web. 20 Sep. 2018.