This is the title of an article I came across at CNNMoney.com written by Geoffrey Colvin, Fortune Magazine’s senior editor-at-large. According to the article, hard work and not natural talent is what will propel you to great success! "Research now shows that the lack of natural talent is irrelevant to great success. The secret? Painful and demanding practice and hard work," proclaims the summary.

It is good to be reminded that greatness is not something endowed at birth or reserved to a preordained few but something you can earn if you have the will. For an "ordinary" researcher like me, it’s encouraging to know that I don’t have to be an Einstein to become a great scientist. I only need to work hard, really hard, and do more "deliberate practice." In research, this translates to several extra hours in the lab, working on a challenging and important research problem, and publishing more quality scientific papers. Publish or perish, as Kathy wrote once. Although recently, it is shifting to "patents and profits." But this will be in another entry.

I believe important research findings do not just popup from nowhere. They are products of persevering minds working even at sleep, and relentless and passionate laboratory works. I read somewhere that Einstein started thinking about the effect of traveling close to the speed of light at 14 and was able to complete his theory of relativity only after several years. Edison tested thousands and thousands of different materials to improve the filament of his incandescent electric light bulb before he could make the filament’s life span last longer. As his famous saying goes, "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration." This has been my favorite quotation since high school and it still inspires me until now. 

When it comes to lessons on hard work, I don’t have to look very far. My father used to tell us to study very hard, give our best, and strive to excel. For him, education is the only way out of our difficulties and the only "wealth" he could leave behind. As I came to realize, education is indeed a treasure worth more than any material things on earth.

Still on greatness, Kathy shared with me once an advice she got from someone she admires. According to this person, "If you want to be great, don’t settle for the number 2 position. Either you are number one or you are nobody!"

For me, I have a Nobel prize to win! 🙂  What about you?