Talent is Overrated

Mr. Pretzel
Credit: Flickr

Talent is overrated. What really counts is work, work and work. Norman quoted this (I forgot who though) In yoga lingo that would be sadhana or practice.

"Sādhana is a discipline undertaken in the pursuit of a goal. Abhyāsa is repeated practice performed with observation and reflection. Kriyā, or action, also implies perfect execution with study and investigation. Therefore, sādhana, abhyāsa, and kriyā all mean one and the same thing. A sādhaka, or practitioner, is one who skillfully applies...mind and intelligence in practice towards a spiritual goal."

BKS Iyengar

But talent sounds more exciting than practice, which brings thoughts of repetition, hard work, diligence to my mind. I did find a nice paragraph on practice or repetition in Paulo Coelho's book "The Witch of Portobello" though:

"...Look at a skilled blacksmith working steel. To the untrained eye, he's merely repeating the same hammer blows, but anyone trained in the art of calligraphy knows that each time the blacksmith lifts the hammer and brings it down, the intensity of he blow is different. The hand repeats the same gesture, but as it approaches the metal, it understands that it must touch it with more or less force. It's the same thing with repetition: it may seem the same, but it's always different. The moment will come when you no longer need to think about what you are doing. You become the letter, the ink, the paper, the word..."

Photo: Flickr Credit - Blacksmith at Work