I had this disposition as well. A friend of mine challenged me on it though. He said that there's an alternative explanation -- that someone learning something

I had this disposition as well. A friend of mine challenged me on it though. He said that there's an alternative explanation -- that someone learning something difficult for the first time needs to achieve some small successes to successfully keep going. Those who are slightly more talented are slightly more likely to make it past the first static hurdle, but more importantly, being a little better than your peers, or impressing others is a big enough victory to keep you going a while longer. He suggested that talented people can attain the successes more easily and so can maintain the motivation for much longer. I wonder about this. In most of the big things I've done, courage seems the limiting factor. I find working on something of my own fairly interesting regardless of the subject matter. Could it be that it's my own conception of myself as capable that's been pulling me through?