Talent vs. Time - What Determines One's Success?

A while ago I wrote a post about the 10,000-hour rule.  A study that challenged a book that said you have to practice or work on something (the study used violin students) for 10,000 hours to become a professional.  The study discovered that that was not completely true, some students were at a much higher level than others who had been working even longer.  A lot more comes into play for success than just practice.  You can read the post here: https://under-the-lavender-skies.blogspot.com/2020/07/100000-hour-rule-fact-or-fiction.html

I found another study about success called the Relative Age Effect.  It has to do with sports and when the children's birthdays are in correlation to the cut-off times for sports and discovered that an earlier birth is typically associated with increased physical ability.  Now, this is a study that can only be tested with sports since they have designated cut-off times but what it illustrates, in the end, is more than just that.  

Essentially, young athletes born after the cut off time who have to wait just a little longer to try out for the sport have a higher chance of success since they are that much older and have matured that much more.  The study finds as well that these students get verbal affirmations from the coaches and other players and are told early on that this sport is something they are good at.  They internalize that and really believe that, yes they can do this.  Which keeps them in the sport and years later they have an advantage over the players from those early successes.  

This shows that affirmations and determination outweigh talent.  And it almost contradicts the last study (the 10,000-hour rule) that I wrote about sometime last year.  But I think, rather than saying hard work and determination outweighs talent, it's saying that affirmations from peers and mentors and really believing those words doesn't make you good at something, it makes you stick to it and really believe that you are good at, which is really all the matters.  Both talent and determination play into success.  

I find the study about success like this one interesting to think about and apply to my life.  Do you have a subject in school that you like best because your parent or teacher tells you that you're good at it?  Maybe you haven't thought of it until now.  I certainly think it's worth pondering. 

Thank you for reading!