Adventure Capitalist

Natural talent does not exist. Any sufficiently evolved skill is the product of passion and applied training, nothing else.

This sort of statement may seem inflammatory to some, but there is ample scientific evidence to prove it - most of the prodigious “talents” in history who are held up as examples of some divine inspiration which training could not have created where in fact products of disciplined training.

A few examples: Ludwig van Beethoven benefited from having a father who was an accomplished composer and music teacher in his own right, a father who incidentally started training young Ludwig at age 3.
A more contemporary example: Tiger Woods - Tiger Woods’ father made the young Tiger play with golf clubs before he could even walk or speak.

Chunking, Repetition & the 10000 Hour Rule
There are two main components to learn mastery of any skill:

• Chunking: breaking down the skill/part into its smallest parts to truly understand each component part.
• Repetition: repeating, starting of with one or a few chunks, then adding more composite parts as your proficiency increases.

Another observed rule is that it takes about 10000 hours of practice to become an expert at any given skill. This is not taken out of thin air, but a gross estimation of the time it takes for a healthy brain to develop the Myelin sheath associated with mastery of a skill.

“But I’ll never be a Lionel Messi or Tiger Woods!”
Nope, you probably won’t, but that has nothing to do with their bodies being any different from yours, they just benefit from having started at a younger age than you: if they had already racked up 20000 hours of practice by the time you got around to start, they will always have a 20000 hour advantage on your skills by virtue of having started much earlier. That’s the difference between you and those who seem to have a God given talent: a massive head start, and for sports, possibly the benefit of having achieved the level of skill at a time when their bodies are at their genetical peak for pace, power, endurance, flexibility or whatever other physical attributes are useful for a given pursuit.

Mastery Is Not About Comparing Yourself to Others
Why am I bringing this all up if it is already futile to start pursuing a skill in your twenties, thirties or even older, knowing that those who started at age 3 will always have an advantage?
Well, to me it’s not about comparing myself with others, but to know that I can achieve a proficient level of skill in anything I wish to pursue, as long as I have the passion and time to apply myself towards acquiring those skills. To me it is about being inquisitive in mind and body and hungry for improvement.

As an example, a few months ago, I started exercising some martial arts, at an age where most competitive martial artists are probably at their peak in terms of ability to compete for trophies. I’ll never be able to compete with those guys, but at the same time, by exercising 5-6 days a week, I know that in time I will become proficient enough to protect myself and those close to me from most everyday threats, should I ever have to face your average street robber, violent drunk or road rage idiot. That alone was enough for me at the outset.
But I have also noticed some fringe benefits in just a couple of months, which are probably better than my initial motivations to start: I have better spatial awareness around myself, I am physically more balanced, I have regained a speed and flexibility in my body that I haven’t had since I was in my teens, my posture is better and I have a general sense of better well being.

Simply put, I will never be another Bruce Lee or Yip Man, but as time goes by, if my exercise can knock off about 15-20 years of aging from my ability to physically perform and move, the health benefits alone will be immense by the time I am 50, 60 or 70.

Being the Best You That You Can Be
I find the well-proven concept that there is no such thing as “God given talent” comforting, it means we can strive to be the best we can be - there are no preset limitations in what we can learn or achieve, other than the time made available to us, our physical & mental health, and the laws of physics that govern our bodies and minds.

You don’t have to compare yourself to others, they may have a head start on you anyway, but there’s nothing stopping you from being the best you that you can be.