The key To Success (Speech)

The Key to Success

High school basketball coach, Tim Notke, said, “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” I love this quote and completely agree with Notke. However, quite a few people disagree with him. They believe that success comes mainly from fortunate circumstances and natural talent, among other things. They believe that success comes from components outside of our control, and that how hard we work won’t change that. Despite their beliefs, hard work is most often the root of success because it empowers people to overcome obstacles and turn them into victories. Furthermore, hard work develops valuable skills and lessons that aid people in finding success.

First of all, No matter how many obstacles there are or how great the talent, it can always be triumphed with hard work. Tom Brady is a prime example of overcoming obstacles and superior talent. When he was in college, he was the fourth string quarterback for the University of Michigan. He had to constantly fight for the starting job. Then, later on, he was picked 199th behind five other quarterbacks in the NFL draft. He dealt with challenge after challenge, but as a result of hard work, he ended up starting in college and is now one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. In order to accomplish this, Brady was always working. He had to work harder than anyone else to beat out quarterbacks with more talent and better circumstances than him. Brady showed that these barriers and obstacles do not determine our success but once we overcome them, can actually be transformed into stepping stones for success.

Additionally, success results from the skills and lessons learned after working hard. In Thomas Edison's quest to improve the light bulb, he said, “I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that don’t work.” He made so many mistakes but he never gave up. And each time he failed, he learned something. He learned more about the light bulb and was able to develop the skills in which he used in order to make it better. Not only was he able to improve his methods, but he also learned the value of perseverance and determination. By working harder each time we fail or make a mistake, we can improve our knowledge and skill and find the true worth of qualities such as endurance, determination, and perseverance.

Elements such as circumstances and talent do play a part in success. However, if we rely completely on these factors to determine our success, we are more likely to fail than succeed, and we will miss out on the invaluable lessons and growth that hard work creates. We must embrace the power and outcome of hard work in order to succeed not only in work, sports, or other activities, but in every aspect of our lives.