#815 Born Like This?

I admit that there are some folks who are born with the genetic makeup to be taller or faster than others or with  perfect pitch in music. I’m not saying that with the right application of training I could overcome my bodily limitations and dunk a basketball like Michael Jordan or write a sonata like Beethoven, but I feel strongly that if I immerse myself in learning and practicing anything, I will excel at whatever endeavor I choose.  I don’t believe that anyone I see who is crushing it in any field is simply “a natural”.

I believe that there are trained and untrained bodies more than there are naturally gifted and non-gifted bodies.  I believe that there are trained and untrained minds more than there are naturally intelligent and unintelligent people.

Let’s remove the Einsteins and the Jordans from the equation for a moment since most of us reading this are not likely to be competing for a Nobel prize in physics or MVP honors in the NBA.  For the rest of us it’s about believing that we are bad at math or lack the ear to learn languages. It’s the limiting belief that somehow they are gifted and you are limited. That limiting belief is the stop.  You see it is the start that stops most people and if your belief says "I am no good at languages", you're not going to download that Babbel app and start to learn Italian.

It is true that some people take to some things more effortlessly than any others but if the others undertook massive action to improve in that same thing I believe they could equal and surpass the effortless folks.  (The Tortoise and the Hare)

 At the end of the day can we say for sure whether success biological or environmental? My bet is that environment outweighs biology. I often see that the offspring of two highly educated people are more likely to become educated themselves than the offspring of uneducated people.  I see that Archie Manning’s boys, Peyton and Eli, were taught to be quarterbacks from the time they entered the world and I would wager that if Michael Jordan was adopted by the Manning family at birth, he would have been a great quarterback rather than a great basketball player.

When I got  my first sales job I immediately interviewed the perennial number one salesperson.  I asked him to lay out for me exactly what he would do, day by day, hour by hour, if he were in my position starting in a deserted territory.  He shared, I took notes and then did everything he told me to do.  With no experience, in an dead territory, I made President's club my very first year.

Own your sales gene...