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1-Page Summary of Finding Your Element
Overview
Talent is Overrated explores the top performers in a number of fields to get at the bottom of just what makes them great. Contrary to what most people believe, it’s not their talent, but rather hard work over many years that determines success. We all know we’re different from each other, but have you ever considered how much? You are special because of your biology and environment as well as your thoughts.
The first thing you should know is that you are the only human being with your exact genetic makeup. No one has ever had it before, and no one will again. This means that you’re unique in terms of genetics, but also psychologically because your brain has never been used by anyone else either.
Scientists have found that the differences between individuals are due to two factors. The first is genetics, which means your DNA affects how you think and behave. The second factor is your environment, which includes where you grew up and what school or neighborhoods you were a part of. Your unique combination of environments will never exist again in exactly the same way as they did for you.
So, appreciate how unique your life is. Your biological makeup and social circumstances are completely unique. Therefore, this will never happen again in history.
Big Idea #1: Don’t plan long-term, because life is unpredictable. You’ll find new opportunities to achieve your goals.
Society often pressures us to live a certain way. We’re supposed to graduate high school at 18, go to college and then get married and have children. This narrative may work for some people but not all of us.
People often have to decide on a career path when they’re very young. Therefore, many people commit to their careers at an early age and base their entire life’s plan around it. Although this may seem like a good idea, there are no guarantees that your future will be what you expected. You might find opportunities that were previously unforeseen. It is best not to fear the unknown but instead embrace it as something positive and exciting because it can lead you in new directions that you never thought possible before.
When you accept that you can’t predict the future, you’ll find new opportunities. Ken Robinson’s life illustrates this well. He became interested in drama and education, and then later in reforming education through drama. He didn’t plan on becoming famous for his writing or speeches until he was much older than most people become famous for those things. Most of his greatest work resulted from seizing opportunities even when he didn’t know where they’d lead him.
Don’t be afraid of the unknown, because it’s all unknown.
Big Idea #2: You may have skills or abilities that you are not aware of. Therefore, give yourself opportunities to discover them.
Our brain is extremely complex and we are all born with different talents.
Although we’re all born with certain talents and abilities, our environment may have prevented us from discovering them. For example, if you’ve never been to the sea before, you don’t know whether or not you’d be good at sailing.
You might not have been able to find out your talents and abilities if you didn’t get the right opportunities. For example, El Sistema is a school that teaches classical music to kids in Venezuela. It’s located in dangerous neighborhoods and has suffered from political strife. The school was successful, and many of its students went on to become professional musicians because they had an opportunity for training there.
Your culture might also prevent you from discovering your aptitudes. Examine the values of your culture that tell you what’s appropriate to be passionate about based on gender, race, religion, sexual orientation and so forth. If you’re a woman with an aptitude for engineering in such a culture, it might be inappropriate for women to pursue this interest or even discover this aptitude unless you go against those norms.
