I know I probably sound like one of your old coaches trying to convince you to do your best and give 110%, but this is so true. I understand that everyone has off days, we all do, but we have to hustle. We have to keep at whatever we are doing if we want it to be successful. I believe there are people in this world who are naturally gifted towards certain things and are what we refer to as “naturals” when it comes to those things, but that doesn’t mean you have to have the talent to be good at something. If you want to be good at something that you are not naturally good at, then you have to work at it!!!
You Have To Work At It!!!
Within reason, I believe anyone can be just about anything they want to be, if they work at it. I remember sitting in computer class as a teenager dreading any work on the computer. The only good thing about the class was the pretty girl sitting next to me every day. Hi Rachel!!!
I was not a natural working with computers and didn’t have a love for it. Fast forward now 30 years. I can program a computer with my eyes closed and working on a keyboard is as natural to me as breathing. It’s not because I am a natural, but because I had to work at it. Years of 60 hour or more work weeks with my hands on the keyboard, building web site and backs end solutions did the trick. I hustled!!!
“But I have talent…”
Just because you have talent doesn’t mean you are going to be successful. I have seen too many people in my time who were naturals at things but were too lazy to work at it. They would rather take the easy road and hope things just work out rather than making things happen for them. They are not willing to hustle and they WILL NOT get the results that people who hustle WILL get. If you want to be successful or the best at something, you can’t just rely on your natural talent. You have to practice, hours on end, to get where you want to be. If you want a great example of someone with talent and the hustle, check out Kobe Bryant’s insane work ethic here.
Final Thoughts:
Personally, I would rather have a team full of people who hustle and have less talent than have a team full of talent with less hustle. True, the team or person with talent will win a few games and have a few wins in life, but the person who hustles will win more and be more successful in life. You get out of life exactly what you put into it. If you sit back, and rest on your natural talent, you will find that life is a challenge for you. You will get some small wins, but will wonder why things aren’t working out for you. I challenge you to look at the guy or gal who doesn’t settle. Look at the person who has the strong work ethic and never quits. Sure, they may not always be the most talented, but with each day of hustle, they are getting better, stronger. They will win, their hustle will make it so!!! Remember,
“Hustle beats talent when talent doesn’t hustle.”