'You've got the passion but not the gift'

ursus said:I think a lot of gifted guys tend to be complacent as there gift makes what they are doing easier to them than others .
I suggest that as long as you have decent genetics coupled with very very hard work and a huge appetite you can force something to 'awaken' from average genetics.
Patience, as already mentioned, is a massive factor to the ungifted .
Many quit before they realise there potential ,many get distracted/injured etc ,but those guys that relentlessly plug awaay year after year slowly come thru and emerge after as much as 10/15yrs solid training.

Sometimes,just having the passion to beat yourself is enough satisfaction and if you dont crave the limelight, but crave to achieve your absolute potential, i think from a personal level that can be just as satisfying as being the best !!

What others think about you is irrelevent, and at the end of time what only really matters is that you are completely happy with yourself .

rick89 said:
that Jay is a brilliant post
terry hollands admited a few times that he got lazy in training from time to time but still was placing high international
i understand your thoughts about being satisfied in yourself and training for one self, and can see it shows in your journal and vid mate
I simply love lifting weights with a passion it makes me feel god about myself even if nobody knows or cares what i lift etc

TravisFandango said:I beat myself to satisfaction most nights.

FAT_SAM said:A friend who used to train with me a few years ago said 'You've got the passion but not the gift', in reference to my love for training and everything strength related. He then went on to say that I am wasting my life by just training and working on the doors and that I should become more career orientated now that I am getting a little older (23 this week). Back when we used to train together he was the best training partner I ever had but since then 'life' has got in the way and he has failed to make any gains at all for well over a year and has started going backwards on some lifts. Indeed I get impression that this stagnation has left him feeling a little bitter towards people that are still making gains.

Anyway - back to 'You've got the passion but not the gift'. I would like to hear everyone's thoughts on that statement and am interested in how many of you consider training their number one priority in life.

Luke82 said:Being passionate IS the gift.

Think I've been watching too many 80's underdog movies, sorry.

ursus said:I think a lot of gifted guys tend to be complacent as there gift makes what they are doing easier to them than others .
I suggest that as long as you have decent genetics coupled with very very hard work and a huge appetite you can force something to 'awaken' from average genetics.
Patience, as already mentioned, is a massive factor to the ungifted .
Many quit before they realise there potential ,many get distracted/injured etc ,but those guys that relentlessly plug awaay year after year slowly come thru and emerge after as much as 10/15yrs solid training.

Sometimes,just having the passion to beat yourself is enough satisfaction and if you dont crave the limelight, but crave to achieve your absolute potential, i think from a personal level that can be just as satisfying as being the best !!

What others think about you is irrelevent, and at the end of time what only really matters is that you are completely happy with yourself .

Cuddles said:
Really good post mate.
I was talking to a few guys at work about this a few weeks ago after one had read Matthew Syed's book on champions. A mate who is a top swimming coach said that he thought that in most sports anyone can learn to train like a champion, that isn't difficult. But the difficult bit is doing it day after day, month after month, year after year without wavering from the overall plan. Enjoying and even excelling in the monotony of it. For most it would become tediously dull, impatience would kick in and something would be changed. Training to be good at an athletic event is often quite dull.
It's also why a good coach can help massively imo. That and blind faith.