If you know me, you know my all time favorite quote is “Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.” I’ll often recite this and aim to live my life, specifically with my sports but also in all aspects, with this as my backbone and motivation. I’m a firm believer in needing to put in the work and earn everything I get, that nothing is given; I get out what I put in. In sports, it’s so important to have this mindset to ensure that I don’t rely solely on my ability alone, because that will never be enough if I don’t also work for my goals. Don’t get me wrong, I know talent is a huge contributor to success, but without discipline and persistent effort, that potential will get wasted and won’t be able to sustain in the long run. I’ve grown to be obsessed with putting myself in uncomfortable positions and going the extra mile because I know that’s what’s going to set me apart and allow me to hang with the natural talents.​​ The only way I can grow and see improvements is if I work for them day in and day out, I can’t expect it to be handed to me or for it to be easy. I wouldn’t say I particularly enjoy getting up early for morning practices because I like sleep just as much as the next person, but my burning desire to do what others aren’t willing to do fuels me because I want to do everything in my power to give myself the chance of being in the mix with the top competitors. Even if I’m not able to beat them, at least I can say that I gave it my all and it wasn’t due to a lack of trying. I know there’s always going to be someone better than me, and I’m okay with that because it means I have something to work towards. This relates to life overall as well with having the unwavering drive and dedication to complete tasks and achieve my goals. Having that grit is a choice anyone can make.

Someone could have all the talent in the world, but if they’re not obsessed with growing and putting in relentless effort, the athlete who is willing to do that, even if they’re not as talented, is going to beat them by outworking them. More often than not, the hard-working athletes will rise above talented athletes because they are the ones who are willing to sacrifice more and know that they can always improve. Talented athletes who aren’t willing to put in the work to better themselves and who rely too much on their talent and past success tend to struggle if they continue on to play in college. This is due to the fact that when they get to college, they are surrounded by the same level of talent they are and there isn’t much separating them from the rest of the group to make them special. With the wide variety of competition level in high school, they may have been able to easily win and dominate without having much to worry about or need to improve as much since they were already at the top, but college is a completely different world. The lack of pressure to work harder and inexperience of not being at the top makes it difficult for athletes to develop themselves and reach success later in their career when they are put up against elite opponents and immense pressure since they never trained how to deal with those situations.

Real life examples of this include NFL quarterbacks Brock Purdy and Josh Allen, both being designated underdogs who grew to make themselves known in the league. Purdy was given the title “Mr. Irrelevant” after being selected as the last pick in the 2022 Draft, but he quickly proved that by working hard and having a tenacious work ethic he was capable of leading his team to compete with the top competitors. Allen was a zero star recruit with no division 1 scholarship offers out of high school. He sent hundreds of emails to colleges and prioritized growing his abilities, and eventually he got his breakthrough. He went from being overlooked to being a fan-favorite in the NFL all because he never gave up on his dreams and put in the effort.

People who are just talented seek praise and expect it due to their abilities, whereas hard-working people earn respect daily, not because they want or need it or because they’re trying to show off, but because they simply want to do it for themselves and be better than they were the day before. They strive for greatness not for the attention, but for the inner feeling of accomplishment and progress. 

Hard workers aren’t afraid of pressure, they feel it but they don’t run from it. They embrace it as a privilege and opportunity to grow. It just means that they have people who believe in their potential and expect them to do big things. Similarly, they aren’t deterred from failure. At least for me, I’d rather fail time and time again because it means I’m able to learn from my mistakes and get stronger through my experiences. I may fall but that just means I have the opportunity to get back up and keep working, I can use my gained knowledge to my advantage for future instances. 

All this to say that I believe anyone can be better than anyone, regardless of talent or natural abilities, they just have to be willing to put in the work and persistent effort. It’s all a matter of who wants it more.