Advice from Will Smith

Worth the read.


“The separation of talent and skill is one of the greatest misunderstood concepts for people who are trying to excel, who have dreams, who want to do things. Talent you have naturally. Skill is only developed by hours and hours and hours of beating on your craft.

I’ve never really viewed myself as particularly talented. Where I excel is ridiculous, sickening work ethic. You know, while the other guy’s sleeping, I’m working. While the other guys’ eating, I’m working.

There’s no easy way around it. No matter how talented you are, your talent is going to fail you if you’re not skilled. If you don’t study, if you don’t work really hard and dedicate yourself to being better every single day, you’ll never be able to communicate with people - with your artistry - the way that you want….

The only thing that I see that is distinctly different about me is: I’m not afraid to die on a treadmill. You might have more talent than me; you might be smarter than me. But if we get on a treadmill together, there’s two things: you’re getting off first, or I’m gonna die.
It’s really that simple."

- Will Smith

Endless Opportunities

There is an opportunity for everything and anything you can think of. It amazes me how many opportunities are out there. If you're passionate enough about something, you can make it happen, no matter what it is. A new business concept, at least one that is new to me, is cheese sculpting. You can see what I'm talking about here.

A cheese sculpture by Sarah Kaufmann

Who ever thought that cheese sculpting could earn you enough to live comfortably? Another unique career is YouTube. People post videos on the site of anything they can imagine, and profit from the views! Some videos are really helpful, like those of Khan Academy.

If these people can find what they are truly passionate about, what's holding most of us back? I say we find our own version of a cheese sculpture and just go for it!

Gary Vaynerchuk talked more about becoming successful by doing something that you're passionate about. Give this a listen!