According to Gladwell, in order to be successful, you will need to have all three of these: talent, preparation and opportunity. And it comes in the order from talent, to opportunity, and then to preparation.
In the article, Gladwell mentions the example of one of the greatest composers in the history, Mozart.
Mozart surely was a genius in music because he started to compose at a very young age. So he did have his talent, which has given him a head start. In addition to it, Mozart was born in a musical family since his father was a composer and his mother played violin. So Mozart had an opportunity to be taught professionally and systematically in music, which was really helpful to his later career.
Despite of all these advantages he had when he was at the young age, his early works were not outstanding. Gladwell mentions, “The earliest pieces were all probably written down by his father, and perhaps improved in the process.” We have to admit, most of his masterpieces was composed not until he was twenty-one. And by that time, Mozart had already been composing for about ten years. So what really makes him outstanding is the fact that he had the chances and time to practice more than everyone else.
Therefore, of all three factors that leads to success, preparation, or we can say practice, is what really makes a person become the best in an area. The article mentions the “10,000-Hour Rule”, which is if you really want to be good at something; you’ll need to spend 10,000 hours on practicing it because even if you have the talent and opportunity but you don’t spend time to prepare, to practice, you will still achieve nothing. The talent and opportunity you have will then become a waste.
In the article, Gladwell mentions the example of one of the greatest composers in the history, Mozart.
Mozart surely was a genius in music because he started to compose at a very young age. So he did have his talent, which has given him a head start. In addition to it, Mozart was born in a musical family since his father was a composer and his mother played violin. So Mozart had an opportunity to be taught professionally and systematically in music, which was really helpful to his later career.
Despite of all these advantages he had when he was at the young age, his early works were not outstanding. Gladwell mentions, “The earliest pieces were all probably written down by his father, and perhaps improved in the process.” We have to admit, most of his masterpieces was composed not until he was twenty-one. And by that time, Mozart had already been composing for about ten years. So what really makes him outstanding is the fact that he had the chances and time to practice more than everyone else.
Therefore, of all three factors that leads to success, preparation, or we can say practice, is what really makes a person become the best in an area. The article mentions the “10,000-Hour Rule”, which is if you really want to be good at something; you’ll need to spend 10,000 hours on practicing it because even if you have the talent and opportunity but you don’t spend time to prepare, to practice, you will still achieve nothing. The talent and opportunity you have will then become a waste.