During my volunteer year in Costa Rica and also in the circus projects in Germany, I noticed one thing again and again:
There are some people out there who try one thing and after practicing it a few times, they just have it figured out. It doesn’t matter if it’s an instrument or a juggling utensil. They just seem to be better than others.
The question here is: Do others who have less or zero talent manage to achieve equally impressive skills? Do you succeed in becoming the best at something even without talent, and if so, how does that work?
The good news is that there is one characteristic that you can train for yourself, and it doesn’t matter how much talent you have.
I’m going to tell you about a characteristic that has a significant impact on your success, even if you have little or no talent. For this I would like to tell you a story from my time as a competitive swimmer.
I had a coach for a while who was very well known for his effective training methods. He sometimes prepared top-class swimmers for championships and the Olympics.
At the same time, he himself was once a top-class swimmer who even became German champion in several disciplines, from which he also drew his experience.
And now brace yourself: He was just 1.53 m tall! Pretty unusual for a swimmer, right? The size of a swimmer can be an advantage when it comes to his speed.
However, my coach didn’t let his bad conditions, which he couldn’t do anything about, get him down.
On the contrary, he knew that he would probably have to train harder than others who were taller in order to achieve the same results. And that’s exactly what he did: He trained more often and harder than any other swimmer. And he did so over a very long period of time.
In the end, it paid off: He became German champion in several disciplines and was even able to become German champion in his age group at the age of 50. So he could become the best in swimming even without talent.
Impressive, isn’t it? Have you recognized the quality you need to bring to achieve outstanding results with less talent? It’s called perseverance.
If you always keep your focus and don’t stop training and learning, even after setbacks and in difficult times, then you will be rewarded and become the best at whatever you train hard for, without talent.
But how can you train yourself to have this quality? I’ll give you two quick tips to improve your perseverance:
The 1st quick tip is: Set a concrete goal and remind yourself of it.
Make your goal as specific as possible. For example:
“I want to learn 5 new diabolo tricks in the next 5 months”.
Your goal should be realistic and not too ambitious. So if you ever lose sight of your goal, remind yourself why you are doing what you are doing, and specifically try to put yourself in the situation when you have achieved your goal and are proud of yourself.
And that brings us to the 2nd quick tip:
When you’re thinking about your goal, listen to music that motivates you. You probably have a favorite song that awakens positive emotions in you. Listen carefully to your music and then go for it, without hesitation. You will see that your perseverance will grow and you will be successful.
Can you think of any other quick tips you can use to motivate yourself to study again? Feel free to write it down in the comments.
So it’s entirely possible to become the best at something without talent. To try it out directly, check out the tutorials on my YouTube channel and discover a new hobby for yourself. Otherwise, I wish you a lot of fun practicing and a lot of perseverance!
Best regards
Bastian
