Hard Work Beats Talent

 This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 23rd, 2018 at 1:47 pm


“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” (Tim Tebow)

The name Tim Tebow has been known for a while now, mostly because of his exploits on the athletic field, and most recently for his giving off of it. I am a very proud graduate of the University of Florida, and so Tim Tebow holds a special place in my heart and mind because of the great things he accomplished while at UF.

For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by the idea of mental strength, whether it is in athletes, performers, or anyone who has achieved a high level of success. I know that there has been this deep allure because I never ever believed that I possessed mental strength. I have listened to countless interviews with people that I believed possessed almost otherworldly mental strength in hopes that one day it might rub off on me. Over the last 15 years, one of the things that I have found so eye-opening is that when I listen to people tell their stories and they’re asked about their success and what it took, inevitably it is simple. Oftentimes, their responses have me sitting on the edge of my seat in the hopes that today they are going to reveal that one secret I never knew, only to be left with a simple, “man that’s it” type of response. You see, I truly believe that we all have talents and abilities that others do not possess. Things that I am good at, my wife or friends may not be good at. Things my wife or friends may be good at, I may not be good at……and that’s ok. The hard work is ultimately what propels us to success. Like so many things, we want that secret (or a pill in many cases), instead of what really matters. Do you want to have success, or in too many instances, change the way things are? It is simple, change. You see, change is a verb, in other words, an action word, or something that you must do.

If you want to be a success, you must:
1) Prepare
2) Work hard (“empty out your tank”)
3) Don’t make excuses, take ownership, and push through the adversity
4) Take critic or guidance from a trusted source that is going to shoot you straight, not just tell you what you want
to hear

OK, so back to my fascination with mental strength. In the 2009 college football national championship, Florida was playing Oklahoma. This year, Oklahoma had one of the most prolific offenses ever seen in college football history, with the Heisman Trophy winning Sam Bradford. Oklahoma was a big time favorite in most people’s eyes. After a lackluster first half, UF was tied with Oklahoma due to Tim Tebow playing poorly and throwing a first half interception. The team was prepared, there was no shortage of hard work, what you see below is #3 and #4. I’ll let you figure out what happened after this. Go work hard!!





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