Albert Einstein once said: ''I can" is 100 times more important than “'I.Q” .
That's where hard work wins the battle between talent and itself.

What is talent?
Talent is a natural aptitude or skill, basically something you are born with, something which you may have “got” by chance, just like a gift.

What is hard work?
Hard work is not a gift. It's not a blessing nor a mere piece of luck. It's something which you have made. Hard work is your effort, your labour and diligence. It's your will power to never give up on your goal.

But, why are we having this debate between the two?
Because we, humans, are goal oriented.

Now, you might have the sweetest voice, the prettiest face or the loveliest handwriting but without hard work which is basically synonymous to practice, it's nothing but a waste.

Talent can only be a good head start, a good launch pad but it can never be enough, it can never be run parallel to hard work. For example, the start line for a talented athlete might be a bit closer to the finish line, but he does have to run the race for which practice and perseverance are the key ingredients.

Moreover, hard work is not permanent in nature. It doesn’t stay with the individual. This acts as an incentive to continue working harder, making him much more humble at the same time. Here again, the threat that talent may pose is the complementary element of overconfidence it comes with, which might lead to laziness and distraction from the goal.

Additionally, when compared to talented people, hard workers are much better at accepting defeat or failure, and jumping back in the battlefield of life.

Lastly, talent isn't under our control, it's out of our reach, whereas hard work is for everyone. Talent alone cannot take the trophy home but it's combination with hard work, determination and character is undefeatable.

Therefore,what separates a talented individual from the successful one, is a lot of hard work
Therefore, hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard.