What is more important: talent or work? The connection between talent and hard work. What were the results of this experiment?

Figure skating is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful sports. Masterly spins and jumps that take your breath away cannot leave any spectator indifferent.

The skaters skate so easily that it seems as if there is nothing complicated in these weightless movements. However, behind every successful program there is a lot of work by athletes and coaches.

At Sirius, a master class for the participants of the January shift was given by Olga Orlova, a Russian figure skater, three-time winner of the Junior Grand Prix stages in ice dancing (2002), participant of the Russian Championship (2006), coach of Nina Mikhailovna Moser’s group. During the practical lesson, the guys honed their sliding technique and practiced a mandatory element for competitions - the “step sequence”.

About his professional path, his first victory, and also about how the participants of the January Sirius session showed themselves at the master class. Olga Orlova told in an interview.

- Olga, how do you assess the level of training of the young skaters of the January shift at Sirius?

The guys pleasantly surprised me. Complex elements were easy for them. And most importantly, the children are very attentive: one comment was enough for them to correct the mistake. The guys are on the right path, but there is no limit to perfection. Athletes should continue to work on choreography and speed.

- Is it possible to notice great talent in one lesson?

It’s possible... but talent alone is not enough for a skater. An athlete must have such character qualities as willpower and perseverance. And if you apply desire and effort to this set, everything will work out.

- So it’s not talent that’s more important, but character?

Everything comes easy to talented people, but the winner is the one who “plows” from morning to night, knows exactly what he wants, and goes towards his goal, despite difficulties and failures.

- What instructions from a coach can help you achieve success after a disappointing defeat?

Everyone needs to find their own words of support so that the athlete understands: even if something doesn’t work out now, everything will be fine in the future. I remember from my own experience how important this is. During preparation for the Russian Championship, I was very sick, and the workload was colossal. I remember my tears during training. I didn’t even think about any success then. At that difficult moment, my coach Tatyana Anatolyevna Tarasova said: “Trust me. I know what I'm doing." And she was right - we performed well.

- At what age is it best to start figure skating?

The optimal age is 4-5 years.

- Is it possible to start skating later and reach professional heights?

I think it's possible. There are clear examples of this. Japanese athlete Daisuke Takahashi began figure skating only at the age of 10, and eventually became a world champion. Johnny Weir (US champion) got on the ice only at the age of 11. And at the age of 17-18 he was already jumping all triple jumps and one quadruple. In Russia, enrollment in schools begins, as a rule, from the age of 4-5. A child who wants to start figure skating, for example, at the age of 10, will need to start with private lessons, which will bring him up to the level where his peers are now.

- How old were you when you got on the ice and why did you choose figure skating?

In the past, my mother was a figure skater, but due to health problems she was forced to leave the sport. I followed in her footsteps - I started figure skating at the age of four.

- Tell us about your very first successes.

I was only six years old when I took first place in the singles competition. I still remember my joy: they gave me a huge vase of flowers - it was half my height. The most interesting thing is that I completely failed the warm-up: I made mistakes in all the jumps and fell endlessly...

- So you can fail the warm-up and skate the performance perfectly?

Yes. The main thing is to believe in victory. I remember how the coach grabbed his head during the warm-up. But I gathered my courage and won: I came out first and remained first.

The Russian school of figure skating is considered not only the strongest, but also one of the most conservative. Are there any innovative ways of working?

Certainly. In figure skating, the rules and evaluation criteria are changing, and working methods are being improved. Coaches adapt to modern trends. But the basic scheme for teaching figure skating, which worked when I was a schoolgirl, is successfully used now.

- Who is easier to work with: adult athletes or children?

Children look at the coach with wide eyes and listen carefully to every word. With adults, in this sense, it is more difficult. Trust in the coach is a basis that is easier to form in a children's group.

Olga, you worked in the USA for several years: you trained, among other things, young athletes. What is the difference between training little skaters in the West and in Russia?

The systems are fundamentally different. In America there are only individual lessons, but no group lessons. The child trains one on one with a mentor. In Russia, a coach and children work as a team. At the same time, in our country, children under 10 years old master the full range of triple jumps, while in the States at the same age they learn only double jumps.

- Do you think that children are given master classes with famous athletes and coaches at Sirius?

Such meetings, first of all, charge you with motivation. When you see a famous athlete, an Olympic champion, in front of you, and communicate with him, it gives a big impetus to develop and move forward. The guys have the opportunity to ask their idol a question and learn some professional secrets. Of course, all this inspires us to conquer sporting heights.

In the literature devoted to esotericism, and simply in the mass consciousness, there are two, often mutually exclusive, positions devoted to the development of various esoteric, including predictive abilities.

The first position is a talent that is inherited or bestowed from above, and without it no serious success in mastering practices is possible. The second is that all people have the rudiments of abilities that lie in the sphere of communication with “subtle plans”, and the final result depends only on desire and diligence in their development.

It seems to me that both approaches are guilty of being too categorical. The truth, as always, lies somewhere in the middle.

It cannot be denied that some people have innate abilities or inclinations towards one or another direction of esotericism (in the broad sense of the term). Often these are truly hereditary talents, sometimes they are spontaneous manifestations of certain abilities in people who are in no way “related” to esotericism. And of course, it is easier for such people to develop these talents, turning inclinations into full-fledged skills and knowledge.

Usually this kind of talent lies in a certain area, often quite narrow. Be it clairvoyance, the ability to receive certain information without the help of “ordinary” sense organs, or the ability to influence the energy component of the surrounding world, which can be expressed in a penchant for healing practices or, conversely, for practices of “negative influence”.

At the same time, we must not forget that any talent, no matter how strong it is, requires “polishing and cutting,” otherwise it may remain incompletely developed and ultimately use a small fraction of the potential inherent in it.

On the other hand, there are many examples when people who showed no obvious talent for it were interested in esotericism in its various manifestations. But hard work, constant practice and regular training allowed these people to achieve significant success in their chosen field. These include psychic practices of various directions, predictions, traditional practices of various directions: witchcraft, witchcraft, shamanic practices, ritual magic, etc.

I am sure that in esotericism everything is exactly the same as in other areas in which the result can be art or craft. Talent gives a head start at the start, but it depends only on the desire to develop, efforts for such development, perseverance and perseverance whether a person will become a real Master, remain at the level of a craftsman, of which there are many, or will not rise above the level of a “talented amateur”, an elite athlete.

By the way, even the presence of talent does not oblige a person to anything. It's like in music - you can have perfect pitch, but not want to study music, and successfully not study it all your life. :-)

Of course, in this case we do not take into account situations where a person is forced to develop esoteric talents, an example of which is the so-called. "shamanic disease" But these cases are still special, and we are now talking about free choice and personal desire to develop certain abilities and master certain practices.

To summarize, we can say that talent is not a hindrance to business, but without painstaking daily work it will remain undiscovered, and the lack of a clearly expressed inclination towards one or another direction of esotericism is not an insurmountable obstacle to mastering anything.

In principle - a banality. But sometimes it’s useful to remind.

Abilities and talents - these words seem similar in meaning, but they also have deep differences. For many years we have heard that talent is only a small part of success, the rest depends on hard work and perseverance. But is this really so, and most importantly, how do you know in which area you are really talented?

The question is far from idle, because only by doing “his” business can a person achieve unprecedented heights in professional activity and get great pleasure from it, living in complete harmony with himself. Together with the site, we will learn to identify hidden talents or develop abilities.

Talents and abilities: what's the difference?

Before we start searching for the most competent approach to personal development and the components of success, let’s try to decide on the main concepts with which we will operate. Remember how they sometimes say about a budding artist: “he is not just capable, he is truly talented!” Talent, in this case, is referred to as a certain maximum measure of ability. What do scientists think about this?

An ability is considered to be a skill or skill that a person acquires during the learning process and makes it possible to successfully cope with a particular type of activity. So, a master who can determine in a matter of seconds what happened to your car (computer or vacuum cleaner) is most likely not a genius, although he has plenty of ability and opportunities for learning, that is, practice. What then is talent?

We are used to poeticizing this concept, calling it a gift from above, but scientists are sure: it’s all about genetics! They define talent as an innate, genetically determined ability to perform certain tasks.

Is it so important to be talented?

So, the originality of someone’s data is determined by set of genes, inherited by a person from his parents. But what about the statement that only hard work will lead to victory, and talent, without proper effort, will achieve nothing?
To identify the influence of talent on achieving results, scientists conducted an experiment on a control group of athletes. Not only the level of initial training was the same, but also the conditions, as well as the intensity of the load.
As one would expect, the subjects showed completely different results: some significantly improved their initial performance, while others achieved almost no success. At the same time, participants in the experiment with similar biological data demonstrated approximately the same achievements.

It turns out that work, even very hard work, is not enough, and you need to have innate abilities inherited from your parents? But perhaps such abilities are needed only by athletes, and other laws apply in the field of intellectual activity?

Scientists have studied this issue in detail, examining the relationship between the intensity of practical training among musicians and chess players and the results they demonstrated. It turned out that the level of skill depends only 30% on practice, and the rest is determined by innate abilities!

The theory of 10,000 hours: still work

Perhaps you have heard about the theory of 10,000 hours of work? Its author, M. Gladwell, claims that it is ten thousand hours of hard study that allow a person to master perfectly a certain skill, regardless of the ratio of a person’s talents and abilities.

In the group of subjects (these were students learning to play the violin), outstanding results were achieved only by those who spent exactly that number of hours studying. Violinists who spent 8,000 hours practicing showed good results. Those who limited themselves to 4,000 hours of training received a very mediocre level of training.

Does this mean that by devoting a strictly defined time to honing a certain skill, you will become an unsurpassed professional in your chosen field of activity?

Indeed, the intensive efforts that you make when mastering this or that type of activity will contribute to a specific restructuring of your brain, and therefore will make you very effective in your chosen field.

What is more important: talent or hard work?

So, we have every reason to believe that talent is very important if you are not going to be satisfied with average performance and have a firm intention to conquer the peaks and top the ratings, to become a brilliant professional.
It is your talent and abilities that will allow you to easily and naturally cope with tasks that others can only achieve at the cost of considerable effort. But, of course, talent alone is not enough if, having achieved your first successes, you do not apply the due diligence. It is work that polishes the edges of talent and makes it reveal itself to the fullest.

What if you’re unlucky with talent? In this case, the 10,000 hours of hard work spent will also not be in vain; they will allow a capable “average” person to become an excellent professional.

What to do if you are not very talented

So, what to do if you are sure that you were unlucky with your talents and, unlike those who always shone at the Olympics, famously scored goals or produced divine sounds, easily running their fingers over the keys, you modestly drew caricatures in the margins of your notebook and Did you take home a report card with C grades?

Probably, you were simply unlucky with teachers who did not take the trouble to discern your talents and abilities. Because talent can manifest itself in something completely ordinary, to which even you yourself have not paid much attention.
Remember and analyze what exactly comes easier to you than others, and at the same time brings great pleasure? It is in this area of activity that you have undoubted abilities that are worth developing and improving!

We begin to look for deeply hidden talents

Urging you not to go with the flow and urgently figure out your (still hidden) talents and abilities, we bring to your attention several questions that will give you the opportunity to discover what exactly you are strong in:

1. What is the opinion of your loved ones about your talents and abilities? Ask this question to everyone who has known you well for a long time, perhaps they will point out one or another of your strengths that you simply did not attach much importance to. Be sure to analyze everything you hear from a certain position.

2. Think about which of the things listed by your acquaintances and friends is easy for you, but the result exceeds your wildest expectations? Remember not only school lessons, but any episodes in which you shone. Make a list to think about the information in more detail.

3. Now try to answer which of the above is not only easy and good for you, but also brings you pleasure. Found it? Most likely this is your talent, which you have diligently tried to “bury” for many years.

You may be asking why do you need all this? You are already a good professional, so why and who needs this search for talent? Alas, life, consisting exclusively of everyday routine, becomes monotonous and boring. That's why we often get irritated for no reason, grumble and even We plunge into depression. Very often, considering ourselves not very talented, we do not realize the need for self-expression and deprive ourselves of the most fascinating moments of inspired creativity that are so familiar to talented people.

Read even more about how to know yourself and better understand others at estet-portal.com.

Who achieves more success, fame, money? Someone who has great talent or someone who is extremely hard-working?

Talent is great. This is Mozart.
Salieri, of course, is inferior to him. Too predictable.

But... Due to my profession, I have seen many artists, musicians, fashion designers, poets, and writers.
I saw how people who did not shine with outstanding talent (although they undoubtedly had abilities!) achieved much greater professional success in life than the Mozarts. They received membership in unions, exhibitions, and titles. They had many orders and achieved an excellent financial situation.

Why are they successful? Yes because they are reliable. Anyone wants to do business with them.
Such an author will not let you down. He will take the order, conclude the contract, fulfill all the conditions, and submit the manuscript on time. He will work harmoniously with the editor and will not “split off numbers.” What he cannot achieve with talent, he will achieve with perseverance, hard work, and professionalism.

To compensate for the lack of talent, you definitely need a good school and serious training. This is a very important condition.
Therefore, if you have ambitions, hard work, a desire to improve your professional level, hone your skills, and the ability to listen to the people with whom you collaborate, then you have good prospects.
Publishers and editors will work with you because you are reliable, responsible, and you won't let them down.

But I repeat: you must have abilities! It is impossible without this. If a bear has really gotten into a person’s ear from the point of view of literary hearing, then it’s unlikely that anything will help.

By the way, Salieri was also a very capable musician, although because of Pushkin’s little tragedies he was criticized for nothing. In fact, he left behind a lot of excellent compositions that are still performed today.
True, there was no breath of God in him, like Mozart...

In short, to achieve success, it is not at all necessary to think about yourself: “I am a great talent! I am this, I am that!” Let your readers evaluate the level of your talent; they know best.
It is better to think of yourself as a good professional who strives to become even better and is ready to constantly grow. Then the profession will definitely obey you, because it respects persistent, hardworking people.

And talents that are from God sometimes do not reach the finish line. They leave the race too early, I’ve seen this more than once.
High expectations, intoxication with one's own talent, being chosen, inability to overcome difficulties, stress, alcoholism... The result is unfulfillment.
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The post was written following a conversation with friend Galina Vrublevskaya galina_vr She and I recalled our student years (each our own), and started talking about talent and hard work, about their role in future creative destinies.

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Who achieves more success, fame, money? Someone who has great talent or someone who is extremely hard-working?

Talent is great. This is Mozart.
Salieri, of course, is inferior to him. Too predictable.

The post was written following a conversation with friend Galina Vrublevskaya