Age-old debate but which one you got if you had to pick one. Some examples:

Talent:
Usain Bolt was an athletic freak of nature. Dude ate 100 chicken nuggets a day while at the Beijing Olympics where he set multiple world records

Hard Work:
Tom Brady was picked 199th in the draft. His draft report said he didn’t have a strong arm. But his work ethic and preparation turned him into the GOAT.

Talent:
Mozart is often cited as a prodigy in music. His innate talent for composition and performance from a very young age is legendary.

Hard Work:
Vincent van Gogh is renowned for his painting but sold only a few paintings in his lifetime. His success is attributed to his intense dedication and the vast amount of work he produced.

Talent:
Albert Einstein’s ability to conceptualize complex physical phenomena changed the course of physics. His talent for abstract thinking was unparalleled.

Hard Work:
Thomas Edison famously said he found 10,000 ways that did not work before creating the lightbulb. His persistence was insane.

Obviously, these guys all had some combination of both. But which one do you think is most important to succeed in life?

The best people are both talented and work hard

So strike yourself and 99% percent of everyone else automatically, most people relatively and logically just don’t have both at a very high level

The vast of majority of people who ‘succeed’ are people who are good at being consistently decent, not amazing but very reliable. Experience/wisdom in a field fills in gaps of ‘natural’ talent gradually over time

There’s some weird anomalies of people who are hot and cold, being carried by their talent. They can get away from being hard working/consistent but they also hold themselves back and are underachievers. This is the minority of any room you’ll find yourself in imo and isn’t ideal at all.

Hard work almost guarantees success. Talent doesn’t. Getting noticed for your talent takes some level of hard work unless you’re completely lucky and just fall into success (rare)

a person still has to have discipline, good work ethic, networking skills, being at the right place to make it happen

raw talent alone isn’t good enough. you have to be able to capitalize it in some way, there are plenty of talented ppl that are unknown or probably died without most of the world knowing them

it’s 2024 let’s wrap it up

it’s about proximity before anything

both hardworking and talented people who arent putting themselves out there or aren’t in environments where it’s properly recognized is more common than not

But what about luck

i agree with this, but also feel that if you are doing both those things, you usually, financially wise, will still have success. maybe not CEO or anything, but you'll have a skill/trade you're good at through talent and hardwork and that will get you paid no matter how little connections you have made

Depends on what ur doing

If it's art or sports talent>>>>
Anything white collar, experience is most beneficial

Very good point

I see what you mean by environment playing a role

But I’d say learning how to build a brand for yourself and putting yourself out there is apart of the “hard work “

unless you just have rich parents or a rich donor it takes skill and repetition to put yourself out there for whatever, being open to going to new places or meeting new ppl. Starting a social media account or something and consistently posting, learning your audience, putting out stuff that represents you well, taking criticism from others as you meet and grow your contacts (both negative, constructive, positive)

if you don’t do that, it doesn’t mean you aren’t a hard worker but someone who is doing that extra part may get further

I guess it all depends on what you want out of your career. Some may be satisfied not having to do all that

talent is abstract and hard work is material so im picking hard work

success is an abstract concept as well but hard work at least can yield benefits (or not) for you to see if it is worth it

All of the persons in op had both. I think the most important thing is to find out what you are passionate about and are comparatively talented in, then I think that hard work will follow regardless.

Neither - success is 99% driven by who knows and likes you

yeah you should find your footing at some point, i just think some people get caught in the loop of criticizing themselves so much they actually don’t put themselves out there in favor of comfort which then leads to relying on luck pretty much. Luck is a thing no matter what anyone says but it’s if you are putting luck in your favor with action or not

Consistency is key with both, even though it varies among the people. You still gotta keep going or you won't achieve what these naturally talented people did.

Yeah man, Usain Bolt won the gold medal because he knew the Olympic chairman and Einstein figured out general relativity because he was big friends with God.

What you’re saying mostly applies to the corporate world and even then if you really want to reach the top you will still have to be talented.

real s***

In order to be mentioned in a thread like this, you need elite levels of both.

Hard work is a talent

S/o rock lee

dinner with jay z

I'll take nepotism

Im not very talented so i gotta rely on hard work

I gotta work twice as hard to get s*** other ppl dont even have to work for sometimes but it is what it is.

I think 10% talent and 90% hard work. Obviously you have to have some interest and enjoyment from the activity to be able to commit to the hard work. MichaelAngelo would rework his drawings like 30 times and got his assistants to burn the majority of his work after he died and said « if they knew how hard I worked they wouldn’t think of me as much of a genius. » also one of my favourite picasso quotes is « inspiration will find you but it has to find you working »