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PG says: > There are three ingredients in great work: natural ability, practice, and effort. You can do pretty well with just two, but to do the best work you

by eloff 5y ago

PG says: > There are three ingredients in great work: natural ability, practice, and effort. You can do pretty well with just two, but to do the best work you need all three: you need great natural ability and to have practiced a lot and to be trying very hard. I think that's the fundamental secret to success at anything. If you want to compete at the top level you have to have all three. It's not sufficient to just work hard, or just have natural ability. You need to fully apply yourself aligned with your natural talents. Hard work is a necessary but not sufficient requirement.

bachmeier 5y ago
Without luck, you will not get to the level of Messi. Without knowledge, you will not get to the level of Messi. Without living in the right environment, you will not get to the level of Messi. The "natural ability" thing is just a spin on the same idea. Work hard to recognize your natural ability. Be realistic about it. In that view, natural ability is not a matter of luck. It is still a story about doing the right things so that you deserve all the credit if you are successful, and more importantly, so that you can blame those that didn't.
- MetaWhirledPeas 5y ago
  Without hard work, even lucky Messi would be a nobody. The ability to do hard work is a worthy personal goal. Not for the sake of a job per say, but for the sake of one's own well-being. You seem to be seeing this exclusively through the lens of predatory capitalism, which might blind you to any valuable insights here.
- eloff 5y ago
  > Without luck, you will not get to the level of Messi. I would add that as a fourth requirement to compete at the very top level along with the other three. A degree of luck is also necessary. > Without living in the right environment, you will not get to the level of Messi. A fifth requirement. None of that means hard work is NOT a requirement too - and one of the most important. Without hard work Messi gets nowhere. But if he has the other things going for him, eventually he will get lucky by just being persistent.
  - ZephyrBlu 5y ago
    The issue is that you can't know if you meet the other requirements, so it's easy to think "I'll get lucky by just being persistent" and you never go anywhere.
    - koonsolo 5y ago
      That is true. If you want more certainty, get a job. But if you want to shoot for the stars, you might end up in a situation where your hard work doesn't pay out.
RivieraKid 5y ago
Fundamental secret? I thought this is obvious. Imagine the following simple model. People have 3 normally distributed attributes: luck, talent and laziness, their sum determines succcess. If you generate 1 million people and sort them by success, the top 1000 will be good at all of the 3 attributes
- eloff 5y ago
  It is obvious, but a huge number of people don't get it still.

by eloff 5y ago

bachmeier 5y ago

Without luck, you will not get to the level of Messi. Without knowledge, you will not get to the level of Messi. Without living in the right environment, you will not get to the level of Messi. The "natural ability" thing is just a spin on the same idea. Work hard to recognize your natural ability. Be realistic about it. In that view, natural ability is not a matter of luck. It is still a story about doing the right things so that you deserve all the credit if you are successful, and more importantly, so that you can blame those that didn't.

MetaWhirledPeas 5y ago
Without hard work, even lucky Messi would be a nobody. The ability to do hard work is a worthy personal goal. Not for the sake of a job per say, but for the sake of one's own well-being. You seem to be seeing this exclusively through the lens of predatory capitalism, which might blind you to any valuable insights here.
eloff 5y ago
> Without luck, you will not get to the level of Messi. I would add that as a fourth requirement to compete at the very top level along with the other three. A degree of luck is also necessary. > Without living in the right environment, you will not get to the level of Messi. A fifth requirement. None of that means hard work is NOT a requirement too - and one of the most important. Without hard work Messi gets nowhere. But if he has the other things going for him, eventually he will get lucky by just being persistent.
- ZephyrBlu 5y ago
  The issue is that you can't know if you meet the other requirements, so it's easy to think "I'll get lucky by just being persistent" and you never go anywhere.
  - koonsolo 5y ago
    That is true. If you want more certainty, get a job. But if you want to shoot for the stars, you might end up in a situation where your hard work doesn't pay out.

RivieraKid 5y ago

Fundamental secret? I thought this is obvious. Imagine the following simple model. People have 3 normally distributed attributes: luck, talent and laziness, their sum determines succcess. If you generate 1 million people and sort them by success, the top 1000 will be good at all of the 3 attributes

eloff 5y ago
It is obvious, but a huge number of people don't get it still.