We all have one of those friends, or acquaintances or dude or dudette we have only met once that has a talent, or knack or is just hardwired for something so perfectly that it almost makes you sick to your stomach. So sick that you become in awe of this person and the relative ease at which they apply their craft time and time again. In most instances this person is not even aware of how they are doing it and in most instances this person can do what they do better than anyone else whilst high, drunk or carrying a serious injury.

These people are the naturals, or what I like to call “Mozart” syndrome. If you’ve ever seen the film Amadeus and remember the one-way rivalry directed at young Mozart from a jealous Salieri then you’ll know what I’m on about. If not click this link, it pretty much speaks for itself – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ciFTP_KRy4

Now whether or not this was a true chronicling of their relationship is beside the point, it displays clearly how some people can just turn it on while others toil hard and still produce mediocre results. Actually there is a quote in a Roger Ebert review of the film which sums up Mozart and his approach and knack for composing in one clean sentence.

“True geniuses rarely take their own work seriously, because it comes so easily for them”

But it’s also because of this reason that a lot of these people who possess this God given talent don’t further nurture it or follow it to it’s farthest extent. There is an argument by author Malcolm Gladwell that argues that this talent doesn’t come naturally but through a dedication of hardwork spanning roughly 10,000 hours. He sites examples in his book “Outliers” including that of Mozart, stating that he didn’t actually compose anything of true greatness until he reached his late teens. I like to agree with this theory, it bodes well for the notion of hardwork = success formula. Break it down to it’s basic common principal ,and you simply become good at something because you practice it over and over and over again.

This comes back to those people who are naturals, they love their craft so much that it becomes the only focus of their life, hence the practice feels nothing more than repetitive undertakings of the craft they love so dearly and their skill in it is merely a by product. But what about those people who are just f-ing naturals, you can’t deny those ones, and they are usually the kids who kick ass at sport that I’m talking about. We’ve seen them, the kid who picks up a football and can already kick thirty metres, the kid who picks up a tennis racquet and has no trouble hitting the lines Roger Federer styles. The kid who picks up a f-ing guitar and can already play stairway to heaven.

They exist and they are out there, and to use a John Mayer term those are the people that are just “Wired” to perform a specific task. It’s in their genetic make up and for them it’s no harder than tying up their shoe.

So for this entry in particular I decided to focus on two people, Demetrius “Hook” Mitchell and Dogtown skateboarder Jay Adams. Two prime examples of gents with talent to burn but never really got a shot or took their shot at the big time because they were missing that guiding hand.

Maybe it was a stern father or maybe just a loyal friend, but both had the talent and the world at their feet and both unfortunately ended up in jail. Below I’ll link clips to both characters that explain their journey and how and why they ended up where they did.

I’m sorry this is such a short entry, for some reason I was convinced this topic had legs but to be honest I think the links below outline what I’m trying to say, in a fashion twice as articulate with the added bonus of pictures and footage. I will go on and say this, maybe it’s the reckless abandon in which they treat their gift that makes people jealous, well at least at the time when they aren’t in jail. It’s the idea that something that means so much to someone can mean so little to someone else yet he is the one creating the product by which you measure your own. Maybe it gives off an air of disrespect for the craft, but then again a surplus of respect and seriousness is what blocks the sub conscious from truly tapping into your own genius.

Remember my topic about getting laid by turning off the conscious and letting your sub conscious do the work for you? Remember that? Of course not, because no one reads this f –ing blog.

Anyway that’s it for me, it’s late, I’m tired and I have work tomorrow.

But feel free to comment, because as the weeks pass, and the comments box remains empty, then the prize compounds in size! First comment receives a…

Jay Adams – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdnytjEuGZA

“Hook” Mitchell – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEwnZ-Yxw4U