Hardwork can beat talent, Christiano Ronaldo is proof

While these two qualities are known to propel man towards success, people have had to debate on which one of the two is more important in the course of success. Is hard work a better recipe for success than talent or is talent more important in becoming successful?

On this topic, some people have talked about talent as the most important element a man should possess to be successful. It has been said that having the talent for a particular thing, makes it easier for you to engage in it, and as such, you're likely to excel in that engagement.

Some even believe that providence has selected few people to bless with talents, in selected areas, and it would be tough to compete with these ones in their chosen field. A good example of such talented individual is Lionel Messi. He has been said to be the most talented soccer player in the world and that no one can play the round leather game better.

While it might be true that Lionel Messi is the most talented soccer player in the world today, Cristiano Ronaldo is proving that hard work can actually match talent, and in fact beat it. The Real Madrid man has now scored a huge point over his rival in the running for the award of best player of the 2016/2017 soccer season, by winning the UEFA Champions League and the Spanish La Liga title. Ronaldo is now poised to be crowned world best soccer player of the year and all these achievements are mostly due to his famous work ethics.

The poster boy smiles, the poses and grand celebrations are only the glamorous part of the life of Ronaldo. There is another part of his life that sees him spend hundreds of hours on the training ground; improving on his technique, refining his skills and devising new ways to improve on his performances. This is because without the trickery, the goals and the wins, there would be little or nothing to celebrate.

Ronaldo is perhaps the biggest soccer star in the world today; with billions of fans and a truckload of achievements, but not as many people saw him reaching the zenith of world soccer at the nascent stage of his career, especially when a lot of other footballers were seemingly more talented than he was.

Even in his native country, Ronaldo was not even considered the greatest talent at the time. Ricardo Quaresma was seen as a more gifted player, who was tipped to climb to the top of world football, while Ronaldo was predicted by many to become only a good footballer.

But the talented Quaresma never really reached the heights that Ronaldo has made is dwelling place today. Looking at it, one would see that although Ronaldo might not be the most gifted player, he has shot past his peers through his determination and drive to become the best in his profession.

Even at the time when Ronaldo started to leap, having moved from Lisbon to the Theatre of dreams, people still doubted his talent and potential to become the best. There were a lot of reasons given to justify the doubts. Apart from the view that Ronaldo was not talented enough, some considered him too arrogant and that his arrogance was going to affect his development.

There were others who felt that Ronaldo is the show off type, always looking to dribble around and score goals for commercials. They never imagined him to reach the top with that approach to the game, and because there was de Lima Ronaldo, who was one of the best soccer players at the time, Cristiano was nicknamed 'The Fake Ronaldo.' It was only after he had proven himself beyond doubt that he no longer needed the initial, 'C.' to be introduced.

Throughout his career, Ronaldo has put to use his most potent weapon, his work ethic, in his quest to conquer world football. His insatiable drive to continually improve on his game and his winning mentality has helped him erase the early doubts about his talent. His level of achievement has set him up as one of the greatest soccer players that the world has ever known.

So about the topic on which one of talent and hard work is the greatest propeller of man to success, the answer lies in the fact that while having a talent is a plus, as it gives you a good start, what you really need to reach the finish line is persistence and hard work. It works for Ronaldo, it works for Kanye West, and even the naturally talented ones have to work hard to develop the gifts that they have. It cannot be better said than in the words of Kevin Durant, "hard work beats talent, when talent fails to work hard." This means that you need to work hard to develop a natural gift and even if the gift is not there, with hard work you can be the best.Written by Ibironke OluwatobiIbironke Oluwatobi is a writer and a reader. His interests lie in the niche of entertainment and socio-politics. The first piece he pushed himself to write was an unsent love letter. His greatest earthly inspiration is Hip-Hop.