Innate Talent or Time and Commitment? Some believe that we are born with the skills to become successful whereas others say that we have to train our bodies and minds to become elite. Authors, David Epstein, writer of The Sports Gene and Malcolm Gladwell, of Outliers: The Story of Success squabble between natural born talent versus continuous training. But what some journalist forget, is that not everyone is born with a gift to be prosperous in a skill. Moreover, some are able to train their mind and body into becoming well rounded in a field of choice. By the same token, Malcolm Gladwell argues with logistic reasoning that humans are able to become successful through drudgery and practice. Therefore, this answers the question: How much of what happens in our lives do we actually control? Notably, Gladwell, as well as myself stand by the statement that we actually have a lot of control over what happens in our lives. In the Sports Gene by David Epstein, he construes about two gold medal winning high jumpers. Furthermore, Epstein writes that these two athletes were …show more content…
Gladwell adds to his claim by inspecting on the talent of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, where he writes, “...famously started writing music at [age] six” but “...didn’t produce his greatest work until he had been composing for more than twenty years” (Gladwell). In short, this means that even the most famous composer such as Mozart himself had to go through years of practice to reach true mastery. Yes, he was born with musical abilities, but it was the preparation, that helped him to reach his