Which Is More Important: Talent or Hard Work?  

Matthew 

In this world, there are two ways to learn how to do something, and to do it well: either learn how to do it or have a natural affinity. And in this world, where not many people wait for anyone, Talent is what gets people places. There are three reasons why talent is better than hard work: Focus, Skill, and Time. 

The focus provided by talent is especially useful when working on a group assignment, allowing one to finish their projects faster and in a shorter amount of time

Having a talent for something allows you to broaden your scopes and aims to learn more at a faster rate. Of course, it requires hard work to learn new skills, but if said scopes or aims have some sort of relation to the talent you have an affinity for you will be able to learn new skills in a shorter span of time. This focus allows you to rapidly learn other related skills.

It also helps to have talent in the form of skill because things will come easy for you, making them incredibly enjoyable. For example, while it may feel satisfying to win a game of basketball by pouring hours of hard work, it’s really frustrating during the moments in between picking the sport up and actually winning. Talent, on the other hand, allows you to have fun while learning and playing said sport. This can also be said for organizing, dancing, anything really.

Lastly, it saves time in actually having to learn things. An example would be expanding your interests. If something you're thinking of trying is related to something you have a talent or affinity for, you can build off you're previous knowledge of your talent and learn it quickly.

Focus, Skill, and Time are the major reasons why talent is better than talent.

Tim

General Norman Schwarzkopf once said, “Success is sweet, but the secret is sweat.” The debate over talent versus hard work has been around for a while. Talent may bring short-term success, but hard work will essentially give lasting success.

Cristiano Ronaldo is an example of how a mix of hard work and talent gave success. His father was a gardener with the municipality while his mother worked as a cook. He wasn’t very rich in any manner, but he worked hard to become a footballer. He did have talent, but if he hadn’t worked hard, success wouldn’t have followed. He has won the ballon d’or five times, and that is no small thing. "He's a machine. They were playing table tennis and Rio beat him and we were all screaming." Patrice Evra, his former teammate, said. "Ronaldo was so upset. Then he sent his cousin to buy [a table]. He trained for two weeks and came back and beat Rio in front of everyone. That's Cristiano Ronaldo." This shows that he has an extremely competitive nature which allows him to work harder, even for something that isn’t football. He is one of the most successful footballers in history, which happened because he had talent, and worked hard. 

Ted Kaczynski is an example of how not trying hard can lead to your doom. Kaczynski is known as the Unabomber. This is because he was a terrorist who bombed and terrorized many people. Before he became a terrorist, he went to Harvard. He killed 3 people and injured 23 when . After Harvard, he hadn’t worked hard to achieve success, and had become a terrorist. He probably did have talent, and had worked hard (he went to Harvard), but he hadn’t worked hard until the end and success hadn’t followed.

A good mix of hard work, on top of talent, will give success, while having talent but not using it (not working hard) will not fulfill your potential.

Mariah 

It’s typical for people to believe that hard work is more important than talent. People are often convinced that if you exert effort and determination in work, there will be productive results. But what about talent? I think that talent needs more recognition than the endeavours of hard work. Talent is more important than hard work.

In contradiction, most believe in the saying “Hard work pays off." Most people are persuaded by the idea that if they keep on working harder, they will enjoy the fruit of their work. But do people always get their rewards after hard work? Or is hard work even enough to secure good results and success? Believe me, hard work isn’t all  it’s cracked up to be. Here are some reasons why talent dominates:

Talent can help you achieve better in life. People who have more capabilities and talents than others have the advantage of getting hired for a job easily, getting exemplary grades in school, and performing better in tasks. In reality, the world is after those with exemplary capabilities and the aptitude to perform what is at hand. In one study, 60% of hiring managers chose the natural over the hard worker. Also, people with more talent have made more difference in group and organizational contributions for their passion and drive. Even without hard work, people with talent can boost themselves to be able to work on tasks using the strengths that they have.

Talent is an influencer. With the abilities one has, he or she can influence others with these capabilities with little or no effort at all. It is very rare to find people with exceptional talents that have been cultivated at a very young age. Talents are beneficial to those who specifically have them as this causes them to develop these and to eventually share them with others. Talent is seen as an essential ingredient for a potential performer.

Hard work requires more effort and stress. Nowadays people aren’t even driven anymore to put effort into what they’re doing. With talent, there can be less complications and it’s more straightforward. As long as one has the valid skills, he or she can ensure personal success and reach their goal!

Talent is more important than hard work. Talent has more advantages and greater results. Talent is way, way more essential to one’s life and personal success than what people normally believe, and it can help you go places.

Shaasvata

The phrase “Hard work always pays off” might be one that some students might roll their eyes at. Most people, especially middle schoolers, might be more interested in exploring and finding their talent, instead of selecting a new passion and working towards it. However, hard work is much more important than talent. 

In contradiction, some may say that hard work is time-consuming and stressful and sometimes tiring as it requires lots of effort. However, I believe that that hard work is worth all the time and effort. 

To begin with, hard work provides as well as brings many opportunities for the future. The fact is that people who put in all their time and effort into something will most likely succeed as they are often the ones who get scholarships, internships, and other opportunities that gives their future great potential. 

Secondly, hard work always gets results. Hard work always accomplishes something. You might learn something, build something, or even change something. Whatever it is, hard work always gets some kind of a result, while laziness doesn’t result in anything but wasted time and resources. In fact, it has once been said, “Some people dream of success… while others wake up and work hard at it.” This proves that the more time you take waiting and exploring to find your talent, the further behind you are compared to those who work hard to achieve their dreams. 

Finally, hard work is more important than talent as talent only carries one so far. If one is not willing to put in any effort to pursue or cultivate their talent, then essentially their talent will become useless over time. When I say this, I mean to say that “having” talent doesn’t necessarily do anything or accomplish anything in life. In fact, I believe it was Albert Einstein who said, “Genius is 1 percent talent, and 99 percent hard work.” Einstein is a good example of this, as he undoubtedly had talent, but would his talent have been useful if he had just sat around all day? The simple answer, no. He put in loads of effort and hard work, and that is the real reason as to why his face is all over our history books. 

In conclusion, hard work in more important than talent. Hard work provides many positive outcomes that benefit you and help you grow. Therefore, hard work and perseverance will beat out talent any day.