I believe that hard work pays off more than talent. 

What led me to this belief is a story that my dad always told me which I’ll get to later. In the world there are lots of people, (you guys probably knew that). When it comes to sports and such, there are some people who work very hard for their place, and then there are others who are born with a talent and don’t really have to work as hard to get their place since they’re naturally gifted. 

In the end, it doesn’t matter because you still have to put in the work if you want to become the best. What I’m getting at here is that even if you have all the talent in the world, if you don’t put that talent and add it with effort and drive, you can’t reach your full potential. 

Now, back to the story that my dad usually reminds me of, the story is about a soccer player named Cristiano Ronaldo. The story takes place back when he played for a team called Manchester United from 2003-2009. The story doesn’t just apply to soccer players, it can also apply to people in work, or in other sports. The story is told by one of his teammates that he used to play with at Manchester United. This is how the story goes. 

Back when Cristiano used to play for Manchester United, he would come to training early, and he would be the first one there. The thing is he would also leave after everyone had left, so he was always the last one there. Anyway, his teammate wanted to see if he could beat Cristiano to practice and get there before him, so the next day he woke up earlier and got to the practice at 7 a.m and guess who was there? Yea, Cristiano was there already warming up and practicing. Then the next day he woke up even earlier, and got there at 6:30 a.m, and Cristiano was still there. Then he got to practice at 6 a.m and Cristiano was there practicing. His teammate decided that he couldn’t wake up earlier than that. That just shows how dedicated Cristiano was to getting better, he would be the first to get to practice and the last to leave practice, that’s a level of determination only the people who strive to become the best have. While it’s true that Cristiano had talent, he worked very hard to reach his full potential to become even better and now he’s one of the world’s best soccer players ever. 

Another story about Ronaldo that I saw was that there was one time where he was with his teammates, (I’m not sure where) but it was to have fun with him (this was also during his first spell at Manchester United). He had a ping pong table set up and he and his teammates started playing. But when he lost he got so angry that after his teammates left, he bought a ping pong table and started practicing on his own. He worked hard and practiced day and night straight for 2 weeks. When next he met up with his teammates he showed off his skills and finally beat them. That just shows the amount of dedication that he has, even outside of soccer. This just shows what hard work paired up with dedication and discipline can do for you. 

There are many other stories about Ronaldo and other many famous people in the world that work hard. I just wanted to pick Ronaldo because first, I would say that I know a lot about him and second because in my opinion he’s one of the most hard working athletes of our time, his level of dedication and discipline is on a whole other level than most athletes, even some of the top tier ones. How this relates to my belief is the fact that there are a lot of soccer players that might have more talent than what he might’ve had at their age, but the thing that separates him from them is the fact that he put in the work on and off the field. I’m not asking you to have the same beliefs as me, I’m just saying how this piece of knowledge passed on from my dad has helped me, and will probably help me in life.