“I could never do that” | What I hate about “talent.”

     I like to draw. 

     I like to play piano. 

     I like to write. 

     And I like to share that with people. A lot of times, this is what I hear: “You’re so good at it! I could never do that.” I’ve heard this far too often, and usually, I just take it as a nice compliment. People like what I’m able to do, and in trying to make me feel better about myself, they unintentionally put themselves down.

     Not even getting into the topic of putting yourself down to make someone else feel better, I have something against this sentence: I could never do that. 

     More than once, I’ve been told by an admirer of my art that all he could draw was stick figures. In each case, the person that said this was not an artist. So, the main question that jumps into my head is this: How do you know you can’t do this? Have you ever tried? And if you did, how long did you stick with it? 

     Did you know there’s a commonly accepted rule that when you’ve practiced 10,000 hours of something, then you’re probably heading towards greatness? (20 hours a week for 50 weeks a year for 10 years—this is according to Malcolm Gladwell’s The Outliers.) So, compared to that, how much have you practiced? Have you really invested the time to find out that you just can’t do it? (This is a trick question. If you spend even 1,000 hours on something, you’ll see that there’s no such thing as I can’t do it. Maybe you don’t enjoy it, but guess what? If you’ve spent 1,000 hours doing it, then…you’re doing it.)

     Too many people today assume that you’ve either got “it” or you don’t. This “it” that people assume you’ve got is talent. While I definitely believe that some people are more inclined towards certain abilities than others, there is no reason why this should stop you from becoming good at something. It might take more time than the person you’re eyeing. It might not come just as easily for you as it did for the other person, but if you truly give it your time and attention, it will come. 

     The fact is, talent is overrated. Mozart had talent—there’s no question about that. Who writes a symphony at 8 years old? But even with this “talent” that Mozart had, he possessed something else even more valuable: work ethic. Mozart loved music. He wouldn’t have been the genius we know of if he hadn’t had this talent, but he still would have been great, because of all his hard work. 

     So back to the 10,000 hour rule. I’ve spent about four years seriously writing. An average of an hour a day, and then maybe 300 days a year…that comes up to be 1,200 hours of writing. I’m barely a tenth of the way to the 10,000 hour mark. I’ve probably spent longer with art, going back to when I was 4 years old. (Every hour counts!) 

     You see, I spend time with what’s important to me, and it’s important to me to draw well, write well and play the piano well. I didn’t just stumble into an ability. I’ve worked many, many hours. (And this isn’t to say I’ve arrived or anything! Not by a long shot, I’m merely using myself as an example.) 

     Another example is that I used to hate math. I assumed I hadn’t gotten “it.” (Using the infamous “it” again.) I figured that if I was an artsy person, the skill of understanding math would not have been given to me. But in 9th and 10th grades, I worked hard. I made A’s both years, and so far, on Algebra 2, I have another A.

     Let’s use another example. 

     The Beatles—the world-famous rock group of the ‘60s. They revolutionized pop music. But did they just come to America, set up a show and start playing? Of course not! They spent two years in Germany, playing in clubs six days a week. They practiced, and practiced, and practiced. You can say they were musically inclined, but without the practice that they devoted to their art, they wouldn’t have become great. And you know what? With the work ethic that they had, they could have been great at a lot of other things as well! But music was important to them, so they worked hard at it. 

     Don’t tell yourself I could never do that. The fact of the matter is, practicing something will always mean you get better at it. It doesn’t matter if it’s something as hated as math or as unreachable as being the first-chair violinist for the London Philharmonic. If you practice, you will get better. Besides, we all enjoy what we’re good at. If you’re terrible at art, chances are, you’ll hate it. But if it’s important to you to get better, then practice and you will get better. One day, when you’re good, you’ll realize how much you love it!

     In the end, don’t believe in talent. When you’re not good at something, don’t default to the fact that you just don’t have “it.” As a matter of fact, claiming that someone has talent and you don’t, might just be an excuse. Maybe you don’t want to practice. 

     In my opinion, talent is almost the same as genius. Most people don’t have it. Mozart did. Beethoven did. Shakespeare did as well. Chances are, you will not be a Shakespeare. But if you practice hard, you’ll find that “talent” wasn’t needed. Devotion, practice and patience were good enough. 

     And if you don’t want to—That’s ok. Maybe art isn’t important to you; something else probably is. Maybe math isn’t important to you, (it’ll probably stop being important for me when I stop getting a grade for it.) But just realize that—talent out of the picture—you will not get better unless you practice. 

     The next time you look at art, or read a book or listen to a song, don’t think I could never do that. (If it’s the work of a true genius...you’re probably right.) Instead of thinking I could never do that, accept that 1.) That’s not important to me right now or 2.) I haven’t put in enough time yet.

     After all, there’ve been thousands of people since Mozart who’ve written beautiful melodies. That could be you. 

     And it doesn’t take talent.

     It takes work.