That alone is never enough.

My phone beeped. It’s 5.45 in the morning, still dark and cold. I reached for my phone that’s on the table beside the bed.

“Ready?”, read the SMS.

“Just woke up”, I replied and placed it back on the table. “Sleep”, said my mind immediately. But then, the same mind said, “Get up and go, you need some exercise”. I don`t know why and how the mind tells us to do two opposite things at the same time. May be that is why it is said that our choices define our life. I chose the second one that day. I decided to go out and play cricket. I got ready and reached the ground about an hour later. My friend was waiting.

“Anyone else?”, I asked.

“Not yet, but everyone said they will come”, he replied confidently.

“Okay. Shall we jog and stretch a bit”, I asked.

“Sure”, he replied.

As we started to jog, I was a little surprised to see few kids already playing. They were about ten kids between 12–15 years.

“Too early in the morning for them isn’t it?”, I asked.

“I see them often in this ground, they just love the game of cricket”, replied my friend.

“As we did when we were kids”, I replied with a smile.

We jogged, stretched and warmed up and were ready to play. But, no one else has arrived. So, we decided to sit and watch the kids play. After watching them for few minutes, I understood that, they din’t care much about the rules of the game, more interested to bat than to bowl, everyone played with bare feet and more importantly each one of them wanted to prove that they play better than the others.

“I bat better than you”, said one kid.

“Let’s see who scores more runs”, challenged the other.

“Make a run when I bowl, I bowl quick”, said another.

Though their challenges had a touch of innocence, the idea of wanting to be more talented is quite common. Do you remember challenging the other kids that you can run fast? or may be jump from a high wall or ride a bicycle hands free or do something that you think you were more talented than the others? Most probably. Even today, somewhere in the back of our minds we think we are talented and to most extent that’s true.

But, why do we want to be talented? Think for a moment. May be because, we think it adds value to our life. It can make us rich, famous and importantly successful. It feels good when someone says, “You are very talented, I wish I am like you” or may be, “I don’t know how you do it, but you are the best”. Since our schools days to till date, most of us were measured by our talents. The world around us is obsessed for it and so we are to possess it. IQ’s are measured everywhere for everything. People are rated and recruited completely based on it. But, how important is it?

After watching the kids challenge and understanding that even most of us would love to have more and more talent, I questioned. What role does it play in our success? Think about it. Think about all the talented people you came across in your school, college, sports or in any other activity you were a part of. What happened to them? Were they all successful? I don’t think so. Remember that guy who was hailed to be the most talented player and the future of your favorite sport? what happened to all those players? Did they end up becoming legends of the game or at least a successful player of some standard? No. I know many talented individuals who committed suicide because they lacked emotional intelligence.

Talent alone is never enough. In simple terms, it’s like table salt, you need it but it alone cannot be consumed. Talent can help you do things better, but it doesn’t lift you up when life kicks you onto your knees. It’s your persistence to succeed that helps you stand up and fight back. Talent opens up new opportunities, but it’s your belief that helps you grab them. Talent gives you a head start, but it’s your character that keeps you in the right direction. Talent can help you win few times, but it’s your motivation and determination that keeps you going for long. Don’t just bet on your talents, develop courage to persist, values that define character, thoughts that create a belief system and a desire that keeps you determined.

Albert Einstein said, “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious” and Norman Ralph Augustine said, “Motivation will almost always beat mere talent”. So, don’t wait to build your talent before you start, don’t be obsessed with it. Build motivation, consider and cultivate other qualities that weighs far more than talent. Teach your kids to persist and believe, expect motivation and determination from your recruit and make working hard a habit even when you are immensely talented. After all,

“Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work” — Stephen King.

I think, the hare and tortoise story that we learnt as kids makes more sense now. Being a hare doesn’t guarantee you success and being a tortoise doesn’t mean you can’t win. Success needs more than talent.

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Originally published at nowinspire.me on January 12, 2015.