Talent is never enough. With few exceptions the best players are the hard workers. It is rightly said that Champions are not born, they are made. If talent alone could guarantee success over a long period of time, all talented sports persons would not waste their sweat, training hard to be the best and keep improving. The best achievers in sports, people who have shattered records, the likes of Roger Federer, Sachin Tendulkar, Sushil Kumar, Saina Nehwal, Lionel Messi and others have achieved all that they have, not only because of their talents but because they constantly worked hard at their games to realize the full potential of their talents.
The media portrays the glamorous and lavish lives that actors, sports persons, business executives and other successful people live and often fails to show the hard work that goes into creating the perfect scene by an actor, the perfect shot by a sports person and the perfect business proposal by an executive. Before successful people taste success, they go through the rigorous of practice to hone their talents.
Most human beings are gifted with some talent or the other but if talent was enough, all human beings would have been the epitome of success and achievements, but that is not the case. People, who are not willing to work hard, lose or fritter away the talent that they might have. Also, hard work is something which is easy to possess and cultivate. One may or may not have any talent, but if one has the will to work hard towards his/her goals in an organized manner, the chances of success increase manifold.
Talent cannot move mountains, hard work can. Talent cannot help you top an exam, hard work can. Talent cannot bring consistency, hard work can. It is hard work which gives meaning and direction to talent. Identifying your talent is the first step on the ladder of success and achievements. Once you have identified your talent and the field you want to make a mark in, start working hard. Look for inspiration, especially from sports persons, who all have a flair or talent in their chosen games and yet, practice hard, day in day out to improve and be the best.
Clearly, talent is an undeniable part of success. It definitely gives a head start to the person possessing it in any field. But to say that only talent is enough, is to exaggerate its value and, more significantly, to ignore the value of hard work.
In the words of Gordon B. Hinckley, "Without hard work, nothing grows but weeds." Hard work is the essence of success. The more you work hard, the better you hone your talents and skills and the more chances of you becoming successful.