Something happened to me tonight that has got my thinking. I was at the gym where I train jiu-jitsu and I had a conversation with one of the guys at the club.

He’d said that it always pissed him off how some people could train hard for years and achieve only moderate success, while others with “natural” talent could come along and do substantial better without having to put in the hard graft.

This struck a chord with me, because as a designer I’ve always felt myself to be in the former category. Learning to code and programme was easy, but making it look beautiful is a hell of a lot harder, for me anyway.

In that department, I’m certainly not a natural, but I wonder if it really matters that much. Regardless of natural talent I believe everybody, with hard work and dedication, can achieve a level of success, in pretty much anything they put their mind to. You might never be the best in the world but then again only one person ever is.

The only thing that frustrates me personally is the length of time it takes me to create something I’m happy with. I often feel that it takes me twice as long to “get it right”, compared with other people who seem to be able to throw something togther in seconds that looks fabulous. I hate them.

I’m interested in other peoples opinions. Do you consider yourself a natural (as a designer or anything else), and do you think it really matters? Or has learning the hard way built character and made you better for it?