Mundanity Should Inspire You, Not Talent. Why? Read Here.
We’re obsessed with talent. We love the mystery of the idea that someone was simply born with skills out of the ordinary and beyond our hope of ever achieving. As Angela Duckworth notes in Grit, “It seems that when anyone accomplishes a feat worth writing about, we rush to anoint that individual as extraordinarily ‘talented.’” (Grit, pg. 35) But talent, that intangible, mystical concept, is not the root of success — diligence and mundanity are.
Our lives are made of many days, filled with many tasks that take much of our time. Success doesn’t come from being born with an innate disposition for high achievement, but by filling those days with purpose. Dan Chambliss, a sociologist (interviewed by Duckworth for her book), asserts, “‘…The main thing is that greatness is doable. Greatness is many, many individual feats, and each of them is doable.’” (page 37)
So I may be different from a wildly successful 21-year-old entrepreneur. But not in any way that I can’t control, not in some indescribable, in-born way. That 21-year-old has simply accomplished more mundane (yet purposeful) feats than I have for my own business. And so, with work and consistency — with the accretion of many well-done, tiny actions — I could achieve that same success. Or you could. Or anyone with the grit and determination to do it could!
Sometimes I find I put limits on myself or try to add extra barriers to my work — not because I don’t want to succeed, but so that I’ll have an excuse if I fail. The same thing happens when we attribute success purely to talent. As Nietzsche, the German philosopher said, “‘if we think of genius as something magical, we are not obliged to compare ourselves and find ourselves lacking…To call someone ‘divine’ [or ‘naturally talented’] means: ‘here there is no need to compete.’” (page 39)
So I’m learning to face the truth and work hard, to realize where I’m not giving my full effort and correct that, and to continually remember that greatness is achievable, even my “normal” people like me.
