Talent. America’s got talent. Korea’s got talent. Lots of countries got talent. We celebrate talent worldwide. And, sure, talent is great. Check out this young ventriloquist singing her, and her puppet’s, heart out. It’s captivating.

But something is missing from the equation when the spotlight is on talent alone. We are too quick to assume that you are simply born with talent…. or not. You can either sing, dance, act, or whatever the ‘talent’ is from a very early age or you’re just out of luck. But that is simply not the case. Behind any good audition or performance, any bestselling book debut or praiseworthy poem is a lot of practice and perseverance. No one springs from the womb singing opera or tap dancing. It’s just not done. And, if you don’t agree, take a look at this clip of Ed Sheeran singing–an adult, but not quite the adult we’ve come to love listening to.

It’s never too late to start developing a new talent. Imagine what the world would look like if the TV shows were America’s [or substitute any country here] Got Perseverance (or Passion or Dedication). What would that show look like?