Attitude & Talent

 Hello folks J I know, you (some of you at least) must have waited for this to happen; to be honest, for me it’s like- I was dying to pen down something like this from ages, finally I got it. Well the very first subject I want to touch, is the clash between ‘talent’ & ‘attitude’. I’m calling it a bit researched (With your prior permission) and my own experienced stuff. (Yes, your spot of concern regarding my decency to write about this rich topic is absolutely acceptable) Even, I’m feeling the inadequacy of putting pen to paper about it, but, I’d to write it someday. Initially, I’m feeling a bit small, so just stay with me. This is one of the vital learning curves happened to me & I thought I must pool it with you all. De facto, each & every person goes through this phase (in his/her career) which I’m going to essay on.

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                                                   When attitude lock horns with talent

        While striving for a better cornerstone, some (unfortunately) find themselves finishing in troubled waters and the rest (have a right approach laced with hard work) sail through it smoothly. (Okay) I’ll abridge the prologue (I’m a kind of verbose animal so, it keeps happening with me on the most nights).

In our country ‘TALENT’ dazzles; yet, you find out that excellence isn’t only about talent. If you’re talented enough, then you can easily tower above all (typical Indian myth). You can dream up of to be like someone (who is good at something). Let me tell you excellence has nothing to do with talent alone, in fact- a major part of it has nothing to do with the talent. In course of time, when you reached a certain level, then ability or talent is the most useless virtue to possess. It’s all about what you do with that talent- that matters the most. And then happens the introduction to one of the most beautiful words- ‘ATTITUDE’. (I personally love this word very much; but I don’t know why people take it in a negative sense) Beyond a certain level, it’s the attitude that counts far, far more than talent. Because talent breeds an ego, and to be precise talent never solves a problem beyond that point. For instance, a bunch of young talented people, who, the moment they face a roadblock don’t know what to do? Because, they don't need to struggle to get succeed- they always use their talent to ladder the success. It’s like easy come, easy go. 

                                          

Let me labour the point I made, for instance, we’ve got two young, dynamic Indian cricket stars, viz. Rohit Sharma & Virat Kohli who are the mainstay (at present) of the batting order of Indian ODI cricket team.(I’m a cricket fanatic, so no prizes for guessing why I’m setting up an example here from the cricket world) Virat has made a name for himself very quickly & easily (it only seems through; wasn’t easy at all), whereas Rohit had to struggle a lot to find his feet. Both of them are blessed with substantial amount of talent (despite of my being a Viratian; I’d still say Rohit is more talented & I'll surely get a nod from Herschelle Gibbs on this stance), both of them got enough of opportunities to showcase their prodigy. But, difference was again of attitude or the stance. Virat didn’t lose out any opportunities & is going to great lengths while Rohit took his talent for granted (I’m glad he isn’t repeating the show now) & he didn’t know what to do after the short honeymoon he had with success. Consequently, he couldn't secure a berth for CWC'11. Because, talent had solved everything for him before. If we keep on trying to survive on our talent alone, we don’t need an adversary- we’ll please ourselves to cul-de-sac.

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                                      Virat made his debut almost an year after Rohit did

In Australia (you know what, I really love Australia, and I keep flaunting my love for it), when they’re building an elite core in military, they look at your career track record from close quarters, and (believe me) if you have never failed then they don’t pick you. (The logic behind this ideology is) If a man knows what failure is, will he know what to do? Hence they pick who failed & bounced back & that’s where your attitude ropes in.

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                                                           Australian military force

               The next point I want discuss is excellence. What is excellence? Is it something like cementing your position in top ten percent (I know, making it in the top ten percent isn’t enough these days, all we want to see ourselves in top one percent). Is talent important to place yourself in the top ten percent? If yes, then everybody in the top ten percent will have the same amount of talent, right? Then what’s your USP? Again, it’s what you do with the talent is vital. Unfortunately, in India, as a nation we’re driven by talent with a great deal. But I feel, in each & every walk of life, your work ethic & attitude play the protagonist in your success saga. We all know Sir Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (I told you, I’m married to Cricket) is the paradigm of peak or the apex. The moment you hear Tendulkar, with a lightning speed you link him with a word called talent. At the age of 14, he played 55 games in as many as 55 days (i.e. without a break). He used to practice couple of hours and then play a game, again practice 2 hours and then a game- the only the suit he followed. Needless to say, he used to fall asleep on the dining table; did it for 55 days in a row, that’s attitude. When he was born, the doctor in the hospital didn’t pull out him with 100 hundreds, like- here you go Mr. Tendulkar, here are 100 centuries for you (He wasn’t born with those tons). It isn’t Tendulkar’s talent that produced those 100 hundreds either, but his work ethic, attitude and more than anything else, when you reach the top- it’s passion to perform and that counts far-far-far more than ability. When you club attitude & passion together, it can change the wheel of fortune on your own, but ability or talent neither of them can pull off the same. It’s the conglomeration of the formers that will outshine you. Well you have to say that, hard work or work ethic per se attitude & can make a world of difference.

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                                       SRT did some serious ground breaking home work.

               Ability might open the first door for you, it might open the second door as well, but it’ll never open the last. Because the people who are competing you, got the equal abilities as well. Before I stop, I’d like to run through my main point, "excellence is all about what we do with our talent, ability; it's your attitude that will decide your altitude, eventually." I'm convinced by attitude and now it's your turn to do so.

             Thank you so much for living with me. I’m rapacious for your remarks, comments, suggestions & are welcomed wholeheartedly. :) 

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