What happens to you if you're not quite talented enough to do what you want to do? Sure, you read books about Tom Hanks, and Frank Capra and Katharine Hepburn -- and you feel inspired. But what happens when you realise you're not like them? What happens if you've spent your whole life believing you're destined to create magic but, even after your best shot, you create something barely passable?
Sure, I know, the success books say keep trying, and you feel inspired by the book about how David Beckham kept staying late in training to hone his talent. But what if your talent only stems so far? What happens to you then? Sure, you could work hard and make a living in some way -- but what happens to your soul when you realize you don't have the talent you always based your life on?
I know I know, you keep trying, you practice, you persevere. Just like Steve Martin did and Angelina Jolie did and whoever else did. But they had the talent. What happens when your talent is two notches below the amount that you need to TRULY inspire people? Do you realize yourself, or do look for clues in the people around you?
Yep, people told Chaplin he didn't know what he was doing, and people told Sylvester Stallone he didn't have any talent. But what if you really don't know what you're doing and really don't have any talent? We've all seen an upcoming actor or a short film at a festival and thought "Jesus, what the hell was that?" -- but what if that is you? And what if it is you every single time? And what if you really aren't the talent you dreamed you were?
Was the teacher who told me I can't write right? Was the girl who said you're in a world of your own the only one who saw reality? Was the friend who said when will you get a real job aware of something I wasn't?
You put yourself on a big pedestal and you dream that you're Al Pacino. And then eventually you reconsider and think, hey; maybe I'm Matt Le Blanc. But then time goes by and it's not that the world doesn't take to you, but that you give it your all and it means nothing, it does nothing, it is nothing. And you're Joe Mabbutt, or Jenny Hendon or Matt Shipp. You've never heard of them, because they never made it. Not through lack of trying but because they just didn't. quite. have. it.
If you knew, for sure, that you weren't the talent you dreamed of - what would you do?
Tuesday, 7 September 2010
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What happens when you're not talented enough? you f*****g hone your talent two notches higher by learning from your mistakes, working harder at it and striving to become what you want to be.
ReplyDeleteDo it.
Gotta say I'm with smellmyfinger and say work twice as hard. Natural-born talent is a lot harder to come by - but anyone can be a hard worker if they have the heart and keep their eyes open.
ReplyDeleteLike Malcolm Gladwell says.... 10,000 hours.
ReplyDeletethis was the depressing thing ever. Now I am miserable. Dammit.
ReplyDeleteI promised several times to make a comment here and now I don't know what to say. This is really a serious issue for every creative person, but for now I would say as long as you think you aren't good enough you are on the right way because only plain minded people enjoy themselves without any questions.
ReplyDeleteI'm all for working harder... a lot of talent in Hollywood didn't happen overnight. Few talent as an artist happens overnight.
ReplyDeleteI think that if you're happy pursuing your dreams regardless of level of reward, nothing further need be said. However, if you are miserable, think it over, discover something that does make you happy and go for it.
Two things off the top of my head... since we're focused on acting, if you won the lottery, would you still pursue it? And the other... if you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life.
but then again, look at all of those people who DON'T have talent and made it! I love what madonna once said about herself, I don't know the exact quote but it was something along the lines of -
ReplyDeleteI can't really sing, and I can't really dance, I'm not dead drop gorgeous - but god damn it I was determined, and I worked harder than anybody else in the business.
in the end, if you want something bad enough, you'll get it.
I appreciate your honesty in posting this, Kid. It's the question of the ages for us creative types. In the end, you just try your best and surrender to your destiny. For me that means, if I make it great, if I don't, I thank my Higher Power for the chance to have tried.
ReplyDeleteHere's a quote from Anaïs Nin:
"The dream was always running ahead of me. To catch up, to live for a moment with it, that was the miracle."
I think I am talking about something different to what all of you, apart from maybe Martininbroda, are referring too.
ReplyDeleteand script demon..
ReplyDelete"What happens when your talent is two notches below the amount that you need to TRULY inspire people?" - Kid
ReplyDeleteI think the answer is, you never know that you are at whatever level. You think you're two notches below someone else in talent, but maybe you're not.
Perhaps the person is confusing fame and recognition with talent.
If by "truly inspire" you only mean "fame and fortune," then that can be achieved in a million different ways with some marketing skills or a business sense.
If by "truly inspire" you mean "fame and fortune + recognition by peers for outstanding work," then yes, that might be difficult to get.
It still doesn't mean that a relatively obscure person isn't as potentially talented and as enormously creatively influential as a Streep,for instance, especially with the internet at everyone's disposal.
There was a time when I was 19 and thought that I was going to be on the shelf of a book store under the category, Indian Writing. However, at some point in time, I realised that it was a dream that wouldn't materialise, so I switched gears and settled for having my name in a newspaper instead. Today, I'm happy with that adjustment. I'm writing. People read what I write and I'm good at what I do. It's enough. I still have that store shelf dream. It keeps me going and maybe this diversion will help me get better at doing what I need to do to get on said shelf... who knows...
ReplyDeleteFirstly I would just like to say I am not a writer or an actor, I am a Landscape Architect but I follow this blog because I am passionate about films.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with most of the comments on here, I was told that I didn't have the talent to succeed in my chosen field but through my determination (some would say arrogance) I worked 3 times harder than everyone else and volunteered wherever would have me. 3 years later and out of 400+ graduate landscape architects I manged to get 1 of only 2 graduate positions advertised, I have also (despite being dyslexic) written a book which has received fantastic peer reviews.
Success is 10% talent and 90% perseverance
IF I felt I wasn't improving, IF I felt that my hard work didn't result in anything, then, I think, I'll finally give up.
ReplyDeleteBut as long as I feel I'm improving I feel that there is hope.
A lot of wisdom here. Now here's an unpopular idea: perhaps the dream of a teenage or adolescent boy should not be the dream to pursue for the man. Or perhaps there's something at the nucleus of that youngster's dream that moves you. Only you and you (inner?) therapist know for sure. Either way, one should never stop doing what they love.
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame as well for those people who ARE good enough and are incredibly talented who just don't get lucky. Would you rather be not that talented but commercially quite successful or the other way around? It's hard to know which would be preferable.
ReplyDeleteIf I really knew that I was crap at what I do, I'd find something else so I didn't inundate the world with more crap than necessary. But of course, I don't think I'm crap, so I'll just keep working.
ReplyDeleteI think most people are missing the point of this post. It's nice to be positive and hopeful but the question is what if you just aren't good enough? What if you are simply not cut out to make it? Say you want to be a NBA player but are 5 foot 4 with no ounce of athletic ability no matter how hard you have trained for the past 12 years.
ReplyDeleteThis is not only a question for creative people but for everyone pursuing a dream and I, like many, have asked myself the question many times. It's a very very difficult question to face and try to answer because it can be truly hurtful to your self-esteem and feeling of self-worth.
What happens? What do you do? You look at the mundane out there, the drivel, the below par work that makes it and you say 'if they can do it, so can I'. You brush your ego down and you carry on bashing away.
ReplyDeleteI know I have different talents compared to my heroes, and I would LOVE to be as apparently gifted as they - but what I lack, I can hone, what comes hard for me, I can still strive towards, and regardless of failure, tomorrow is always there to start all over again, perhaps wiser, stronger and hopefully all the better for the lesson learned.
ReplyDeleteBesides, it's hardly as if there is an option, I do what I do because I have to - yes true, success might be nice (ahem, let's backtrack, who am I kidding? It would mean the sun, moon and stars to me!), but I'll happily pass up on that fame lark, that's got to be one huge, massive pain in the arse to deal with!
Many of you think seem to think I am talking about being famous - again, that's really not what I'm talking about.
ReplyDeleteI think it's fascinating how everyone has interpreted the message of this article in different ways.. I like that, but it's also confusing!
I think about this every day. EVERY day. Yesterday, while scrubbing the kitchen counters, I thought, "I'm never gonna get published. It just isn't gonna happen to me."
ReplyDeleteYou know how most women are constantly thinking, "Oh gosh, I'm fat," whether they are, or not? I'm not like that. I don't diet. I don't care! I like the way I look. No, my nagging thought -- my constant nagging thought, is, "I'm not good enough. I'm almost good enough. But it just isn't gonna happen..."
I think this post was brilliant, and I think you're damn brave for saying it. Lots of people are total hacks, but they don't know they're total hacks. Like the skinny girl who thinks she's fat...can she not see in the damn mirror?! And ugly girls who think they're pretty. People are blind. And no one has any confidence. But then again, there are people with confidence about something they really shouldn't be confident about! I don't know. I try to think I have a realistic amount of confidence in all areas. But I just think I'm two inches below 'GOOD', and it's just never gonna happen...and some days I just want to curl up and die. I think, "If I'm not good enough, why even bother?" But if I don't write on a regular basis, I can't hardly breathe. So there you go. If I knew I wasn't good enough, what would I do? I'd keep writing, keep breathing. I suppose one day it'll stop.
This is the cool part about skills. If it was easy it would have no value in the marketplace and no one would care. When things are REALLY REALLY hard it ensures that the payoff will be that much better, your skills will be insulated against competition. If you can't get to that point you should quit as soon as possible because you're wasting your time and resources every day you don't try to go all the way.
ReplyDelete