Talent is a myth.

Originally sent exclusively to The Letter subscribers on September 7th. Want to be the first to get my personal newsletter in your inbox every Monday at 7am? Subscribe for free here.

Are you more talented than Elon Musk, Taylor Swift, Steve Jobs and flipping Mozart?

You are, if you have this up your sleeve…

What if I told you talent is a myth?

That no one really has it.

What if I told you the real talent is grit, followed closely by environment?

A few years ago, I read a brilliant book called Bounce by Matthew Syed. It demystifies this idea of natural talent and makes the case that exceptional performance is largely a process of purposeful practice, repetition and environment.

The book is littered with examples and evidence.

Mozart, for example, didn't simply arrive on this planet as a musical genius. He was born into an extraordinary musical environment. His father was a musician, teacher and composer, and Mozart was immersed in music from an incredibly young age.

By the time most children were just beginning to discover what they were good at, Mozart had already accumulated thousands of hours of focused practice.

Talent?

Or environment, practice and grit?

The evidence for this was compounded for me this summer when I delved back into The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

Incidentally, I think this book should be compulsory reading for young people at school.

I genuinely think that if we could get an entire generation to understand and practise its principles, we'd have a fighting chance of becoming the fastest-growing economy in the G7.

No joke.

If you've got kids, pay them to read it and write you an essay about what they've learnt.

Stephen Covey's work got me thinking again about the characteristics of highly effective people, which led me deeper into the subject of grit.

Angela Duckworth's book Grit makes the case that passion and perseverance over long periods are incredibly powerful predictors of achievement.

And this matters enormously in entrepreneurship.

Because entrepreneurship will eventually force you to make a choice:

Show grit or accept comfort.

If you want to reach the next level, there will be moments when giving up is the perfectly sensible thing to do.

You'll be tired.

You'll get knocked back.

People will tell you it won't work.

The numbers might look horrible.

Your confidence will disappear.

And that's where grit comes in.

Of course, a good family, connections, access to capital and natural ability can all grease the wheels of success. They can absolutely help you reach your destination faster.

But there's an interesting problem with having too much handed to you.

You don't always develop the resourcefulness that comes from having to figure it out yourself.

Those who have to seek out and build their own rare and protected forms of leverage can become incredibly resourceful.

Look at Taylor Swift.

She had supportive parents, absolutely. But she also had extraordinary determination from a young age. Her family moved to the Nashville area, putting her in an environment where her ambition had a much greater chance of becoming reality.

Grit met environment.

You see something similar with immigrant entrepreneurs.

People get on planes and boats, leave everything they know behind, arrive in another country and build fortunes within a single generation.

Sometimes with little more than the clothes on their backs and a backpack full of grit and determination.

There is, however, a downside to grit.

It can be difficult for the people around you.

Because sometimes the sensible thing is to stop.

Sometimes everyone around you can see an easier life available to you.

And yet you keep going.

We have such little time to live.

But impact matters.

Maybe that's why thousands of you continue to read the hogwash of a man with perhaps a little too much grit and perseverance.

I'm sitting here writing this at the end of my garden in a shepherd's hut, late on a Sunday evening.

I could be watching Netflix.

Instead, I'm writing.

Trying to improve my writing.

Trying to improve my thinking.

I've spent much of this weekend planning, thinking and making lists.

Why?

Because I believe grit, sharpening the saw and constantly trying to become more are part of the price of entry to the next level.

If you want more, and you want to impact more, then you have to become more.

And you have to deliberately put yourself in environments that help make that happen.

Better people.

Bigger thinking.

Harder challenges.

More purposeful practice.

That's how you sharpen the saw.

And that's how you become more.

Which brings me to four very simple words:

Why not?

Why not see what you can do?

Why not see who you can become?

Why not you?

And most importantly…

Why not now?

To your continued success,

James

P.S. Those final questions are inspired by the great Jim Rohn. Google “Jim Rohn, The Four Questions” and listen to it. You'll thank me later.

And if one of your answers to “Why not now?” is finally building the business you know you're capable of building…

Join me at our biggest event of the year, this coming January, tickets here.