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- Don't Have "Natural Talent?" Here's Why It Doesn't Matter
Don't Have "Natural Talent?" Here's Why It Doesn't Matter
Matt Karamazov
September 19, 2024
📚 Hey! Time to win.
I’m working on my next book breakdown for you, and it’s Dan Kennedy’s No B.S. Guide to Succeeding in Business by Breaking All the Rules.
If it wasn’t such a fantastic book I wouldn’t recommend it so often, partly because it takes so damn long to type out the full title!
Anyway. It’s phenomenal, and my breakdown will feature all the key ideas and takeaways, actions steps, etc. But I want to share with you a longer quote from the book that will show you why natural ability DOES NOT matter in business (or anywhere in life):
“The activities in which I have become very successful and from which I make large sums of money are instructive because of how ill-suited by ‘natural ability’ I am to them.
For example, for more than twenty years, I have made hundreds of thousands of dollars a year as a professional speaker. I stuttered badly for a while in my youth, I was shy (I still, frankly, am not much of a ‘people person’), and when I started speaking I was downright awful, awkward, and uncomfortable. My earliest audio cassettes are so bad and embarrassing I try to buy them back when I find them.
I make the lion’s share of my living writing - 36 books have gone through bookstores; millions of dollars a year of my self-published books, manuals, courses, and newsletters are sold worldwide. And a large membership organization was built on the foundation of my writing. I have been and am routinely paid six-figure project fees as an advertising copywriter.
As I recall, I got a C in creative writing, a B in journalism, and my English teacher in my junior and senior years in high school suggested I’d make a great plumber. Several critics have made similar suggestions since then. And I would only agree to this extent: I doubt very seriously that I have any ‘natural’ writing talent. But I can certainly write for dough.
Instead of talent, I own what I call highly developed skills. These do not come out of the womb already installed. They are made through determination, study, and work.
I think the idea of ‘natural ability’ is, at best, irrelevant. The argument of genetics versus education and environment is almost irrelevant. Not necessarily invalid, just irrelevant.
If you are limited in a particular area, if you really do lack natural talent, you can make up for it if you determine to do so. If you happen to have some natural talent in an area in which you desire to excel, celebrate and build on the advantage gratefully. But either way, you can do pretty much whatever you set your mind to do.”
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Within My Direct Control:
Finish Reading 20 Great Books | 16 Books Left
Publish 8 New Course Videos | 8 Videos Left
Publish 15 YouTube Videos | 15 Videos Left
Publish 150 Medium Articles | 137 Articles Left
Completely Update My Social Media | Almost Finished
Completely Update My Patreon Page | Incomplete
Completely Update My Newsletter Platforms | Incomplete
Completely Update My Entire Main Website | Incomplete
Launch Affiliate Program for My Paid Community | Incomplete
Update 30 Patreon Book Notes | 18 Book Notes Left
Network with 600 New Authors | 500 Authors Left
Not Within My Direct Control:
Get Monetized on YouTube | 3,484 Watch Hours Left (12.9% Complete)
Negotiate 12 Newsletter Partnerships | 11 Partnerships Left
Organize 12 Instagram Collaborations | 11 Collaborations Left
Reach 119,000 Instagram Followers | 4,252 Followers Left
Reach 24,000 Threads Followers | 3,900 Followers Left
Reach 11,000 Twitter Followers | 3,209 Followers Left
Reach 4,000 Medium Followers | 2,042 Followers Left
Reach 2,000 Facebook Followers | 690 Followers Left
Reach 2,000 LinkedIn Followers | 1,109 Followers Left
Reach 10,000 YouTube Subscribers | 8,449 Subscribers Left
Reach 10,000 Reading Life Subscribers | 5,455 Subscribers Left
Reach 1,000 Competitive Advantage Subscribers | 426 Subscribers Left
Reach 50 Competitive Advantage Members | 11 Members Left
Reach 50 Patreon Supporters | 19 Supporters Left
Note: I’ll update follower counts once per week, since it’s such a waste of time to go through all of them every single night. Also, Threads annoyingly doesn’t give exact numbers. Oh well.
Read 7 New Books | 6 Books Left
Publish 3 New Course Videos | 3 Videos Left
Publish 4 YouTube Videos | 4 Videos Left
Publish 35 Medium Articles | 32 Articles Left
Upload New VSL for Skool Community | Editing Now
Upload Skool Community Testimonials | Gathering Now
Completely Update My Instagram Profile | Almost Finished
Completely Update My YouTube Profile | Almost Finished
Completely Update My Newsletter | Almost Finished
Completely Update My Patreon | Almost Finished
Network with 140 Authors | 90 Authors Left
Note: “Week Three” Runs From September 15th-21st
Woke Up: 1PM
Sleep Quality: 82%
Pages Read: 112
Workout: Legs
I didn’t actually go to the gym today, but I did 2,000 bodyweight squats over the span of a few hours, which was WAY worse haha. Saved myself some time though, so I’m glad I made the little substitution. Back in the gym tomorrow for shoulders, and a REAL leg day next week as well.
Work Completed:
Posted 1x on Instagram
Posted 4x on Twitter
Posted 4x on Threads
Posted 2x on LinkedIn
Posted 2x on Facebook
Worked on Current Author Campaigns
Worked on My Next Book Breakdown
Worked on Next Reading Life Newsletter
Rehearsed My Next YouTube Video
Connected with 20 New Potential Author Partners
Managed Paid Competitive Advantage Community
Completely Organized My Workflow for Tomorrow
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Today was pretty damn good, and I’m looking forward to doing it all again tomorrow! A few of my monthly goals are slipping away from me a bit, but I always set them way higher so it’ll force me to expand my capabilities and stretch to reach them.
That doesn’t mean it doesn’t HURT when I fail to reach them, but when I can honestly look back and say that I’ve done my best, that means something to me too. So tomorrow I’ll see what I can do about finally getting a YouTube video up, publishing some more Medium articles, and updating a few more things on the backend.
But hey, it’s 3:04AM here right now and I’m going to bed!
All the best,
Matt Karamazov
P.S. Whenever you're ready, here are three more ways I can help you:
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