Michael Jordan once said, “Everybody has talent but ability takes hard work.” Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer pulled all nighters and worked 130-hour weeks to get to where she is. Venus and Serena Williams have been waking up at 6 in the morning hit tennis balls since they were 7 and 8 years old.

These famous people all were very hard workers and achieved great success. Some would say that these people already had natural talent and if an average person worked the same amount they would not get as far. This is true, but it is also true that every person in the world is born with talent. The difference is that these successful people found their talents, committed themselves and worked at it until they achieved their goals.

Science shows that successful people have a whole different mindset than people that are not successful. These people show  the traits of embracing challenges and see effort as the path to mastery.

America’s future depends on young men and women seizing opportunity. The American Dream guarantees the opportunity to prosper and success.

Everyone has opportunity and talent so why can’t everyone take advantage of it? People have a fear of taking risk which is why they don’t reach their full potential. Most people decide to stay average and not try to pursue their passion and talent. Not everything is possible if you just believe. Anything is possible if you believe, put your mind to it and work as hard as you possibly can.

Einstein said, “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.” Albert Einstein is one of the smartest people to ever live. He clearly was a workaholic because there is a story that he forgot his address while working at Princeton University because he was at work so often.

I could go on and on about success stories but the fact of the matter is that talent is not more important than hard work. Einstein is the perfect example because he didn’t think that he was talented but he worked hard and look where it got him. This is how most people view themselves. They think they are someone with no real talent and are just gonna sit there and have a pity party for themselves. To be successful one has to put aside all the doubts and worries that they will fail and just work.

The great Thomas Edison once said, “There is no substitute for hard work.” The worst substitute would be talent because talent can go no where without hard work.