There are a handful of age old debates that consistently come up when it comes to gaining success in life. One of the main ones that seems to come up is talent versus hard work. The debate goes something like this, "Well you're natural talent is only going to go so far. You need to put in the hard work too" or "Well some people just have more talent, maybe you can put that hard work into something else instead". So which is more important for success? Is it a combination of the two?

So, let's talk talent. Most people can name the one or more friends in their groups that are deemed the "creative type". These individuals generally have some sort of specific talent that everyone knows about. When you think of these people, generally you think of dancers, artists, writers and those that are good with their hands. What you don't think of are those who are great with numbers, event planners or those with what are deemed "normal" jobs. Some people are just naturally better at certain things than others are which we deem as a talent. Now, just because someone is talented, does it mean that they don't put in any hard work? Chances are, no. Dancers, even the absolute best, practice for hours on end for weeks or months. Artists erase or paint over mistakes that they've made. They stay in place for hours trying to make image in their minds come to life. Event planners are consistently running all over the place, learning new things in order to better adapt to specific situations. All of these require a tremendous amount of work.

Now, for hard work. There are countless jobs that I can think of off of the top of my head that qualify as one of the "hard work" type of jobs. Those who work in construction, firefighters, police, mail men, and the military are just a few. However, there are countless other jobs that it took a lot of hard work to get into as well. The CEO of Amazon didn't just magically show up in that position one day. Lawyers consistently push themselves to make sure they have all of the facts they need for their cases which requires a lot of hard work. Doctors and nurses have to refresh or research new methods in order to keep up to date in the medical world. Some people use their natural talents to excel in their positions that still require a lot of work. The head accountant who happens to be good at numbers still has to complete all of his paperwork while taking care of all of the other duties his job demands. Someone who's naturally good with words could be an editor who spends half of her life trying to make articles or books perfect.

Either way you look at it, success is most likely a direct combination of both talent and hard work. Just because someone is naturally talented doesn't mean that they don't put in hard work. Likewise, just because you see someone put in hard work doesn't mean that they aren't talented. There are always going to be those who are perfectionists that are always working harder to be even better at what they do. There are also going to be some people who fall back exclusively on their talents. Either way, success is clearly driven by both.