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- Talent is overrated
Hey friend,
Have you ever noticed how we're quick to put exceptional people on a pedestal? You know the ones I'm talking about...
Mozart was composing music at five years old. LeBron was dubbed "The Chosen One" in high school. Picasso was painting masterpieces as a teenager.
And we call it talent. We call it genius. We call it a gift.
We're wrong. 🙅🏽♀️
What if I told you that the world's greatest "prodigies" were actually the product of thousands of hidden hours of practice? That the quick-witted news anchor who hardly stumbles (yes, that was once me!) had already recorded and critiqued hundreds of broadcasts before you ever saw them on air?
The truth about exceptional performance isn't inspirational; it’s uncomfortable. It's not about being chosen; it's about choosing, day after day, to do the work that others aren't willing to do.
 | Natural Gifts vs. Deliberate PracticeLet's get something straight: natural aptitude is real. Some people do have genetic predispositions that give them a head start. But that head start? It's simply the first mile of a marathon. 🏃🏽♀️ In one of my favorite books, "Talent Is Overrated," Geoff Colvin explains that natural gifts are "more like doors that are unlocked by practice." The real differentiator is what happens after that door is unlocked. Take Michael Jordan, widely considered the GOAT. Most people don't know that he was cut from his high school varsity team as a sophomore. |
His response? Waking up at 6 AM to practice before school.
What You See vs. What You Don't See
When you watch my videos or see my content, you're witnessing skills I've honed under intense pressure for over a decade:
What you see: Confident on-camera presence, concise storytelling, and a smooth delivery.
What you don't see: 12 years of live broadcasts where mistakes weren't an option, writing complete stories with complex information in under 75 seconds, and interviewing reluctant sources under deadline pressure.
By the time most "overnight successes" are discovered, they've already put in their 10,000 hours—the amount of practice that research suggests is needed for world-class expertise in any field.
Here's something I rarely talk about: While my content creation skills might look polished, I'm still very much a beginner in other areas of my business.
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These struggles happen behind the scenes, where my audience doesn't witness them.
And that's precisely what happens with every "talented" person you admire; you see their polished performances, not their struggles and deliberate practice sessions.
The Secret: Deliberate Practice at the Edge of Your Ability
Not all practice is created equal. The key is "deliberate practice" – practicing at the edge of your abilities, where you're slightly uncomfortable and reaching for something just beyond your current grasp.
When I started in news, I recognized my weakness with breaking news. Instead of avoiding it, I deliberately volunteered for those assignments. After each broadcast, I would review my performance and identify one specific element to improve.
The key elements of deliberate practice include:
Working at the edge of your capabilities - Just difficult enough to be challenging
Clear, specific goals - Not "get better at breaking news" but "eliminate verbal fillers during high-pressure situations"
Full concentration and effort - Casual practice produces casual results
Immediate feedback - Learning what worked and what didn't
Repetition with refinement - Doing it again with improvements
Research found that elite performers across fields spend around 4-5 hours per day in this type of focused, deliberate practice—not the 12+ hours you might imagine.
Quality matters more than quantity. 👏🏽
Rethinking Your Own PotentialThe most liberating implication of this research is that excellence is essentially a matter of choice and disciplined practice, not predetermined talent. Here's how to apply these insights:
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Embrace the discomfort zone - If you're practicing something that feels completely comfortable, you're probably not improving.
Reframe "failure" as feedback - Every mistake is valuable information about what to adjust.
This reminds me so much of my fitness journey (have I mentioned my Pilates obsession lately? 😂). Remember when I was committing to just one class a week? Those unsexy, small commitments build on each other!
I didn't become a four-classes-a-week person overnight. I became that person by consistently showing up and gradually expanding my comfort zone.
This week, I challenge you to:
Identify one area where you've been telling yourself, "I'm just not naturally good at this."
Design a small, deliberate practice session focusing on one specific aspect of that skill.
Spend 30 minutes practicing at your edge where it's challenging but not impossible.
Remember: What looks like talent is usually just practice you didn't witness. And what feels like a limitation is a skill you haven't developed yet. ✨
I'd love to hear what you're working on and what "edge" you're pushing yourself toward. Drop me a line and let me know!
  Pretty fitting this week :) |   Perfect dress for the spring |   Photoshoot time! |
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