Alex – Hi to you, looking forward to finally meeting you at your wedding, or maybe sooner

Albert – I think Stan would be a better professional golfer. She’s getting pretty good.

Mengfei – Stan came up with the title, but it’s totally something I would have come up with too. I definitely think it’s possible to figure out what you are, but agree that it could be disheartening, demotivating, or irrelevant depending on the person. I actually think your advice – “acknowledge the two pieces and aim for Kobe,” is better advice than my “figure out what you are for reference.” So thanks for interpreting my blog better than me.

Aisha – Thanks for the comment. My fortune is getting pretty old and smelly, I may have to toss it soon.

Stan – I will definitely let you know. I think I did 5 minutes ago.

Joe – Agree it’s intuitive, that’s the point, to attempt to simplify what makes professional success for Artists (using my own subjective definition of success). Wade Boggs was a Gifted – his gift was his hand-eye coordination, which got him into the Hall of Fame. I asked Cal Ripken once about great hitters and he told me “Wade Boggs is one of the most gifted hitters I have ever seen personally play the game.” I worked in the Minnesota Twins organization for 2 years and saw the ESB/Gifted/Kobe dynamic play out a lot, I think it’s more visible it the minor league and college level for athletes. I think King is successful because he’s found a way to write that millions of people enjoy and connect to, and he’s become a houehold name doing so. I don’t know much about Vonnegut and Rowling, they may also be good examples. I have to admit I’ve never heard of the other one you mentioned.

Angie – I’m working on some new boy band songs, perhaps another performance is in the future. Completely agree that any professional athlete is gifted, as a sports fan I often compare the best player on the team to the worst, but I lose sight of the fact that the worst player on the team is more talented at his/her sport than 99.9999% of the human population. I’ve never read Outliers – I probably should, I like Gladwell’s stuff. And I agree that Stan is gifted :)

Totally reminded me of the Malcolm Gladwell article, which is also based off Outliers. I feel that any athlete in professional sports is some what gifted actually.

You are gifted Kristan, so maybe it really is writing more (hint nudge) and finding that opportunity (like Amazon, Kenyon) and launching yourself because you have the right moment!

• Angie’s recent blog post: Hope

And both your interpretations of “gifteds” and “ESBs” are a little off. Players like Vince Carter or Tracy McGrady did a fine job of getting famous and being commercially successful without working exceptionally hard to do so. Wade Boggs busted his ass and made the Hall of Fame despite lacking the natural gifts of a more talented player. There are hundreds of athletes and writers on both ends of the spectrum who gained notoriety. There’s no guarantee of success or failure for either type of person.

Finally, just a little thing, but I think King is a pretty poor choice of someone to call an immensely talented author. Is he good? Yes. But it’s not like he’s submitted an 81 point performance or anything like that (i.e., a book that will be remembered forever). His 2,000 word quota shows that he’s obviously an “ESB”, but greatness doesn’t necessarily follow mass production. Vonnegut or Kingsolver or even Rowling would have been a better example to use.

So then the question becomes, what concrete things can I do to make up for not being an ESB?

I’m sure you (Andy) will let me know. :P

I had no idea Kobe Bryant practiced that much, that’s amazing.

I really liked your entry. I agree that many celebrities are gifted and extremely passionate about their work, and lucky to boot.

(Hehe about the fortune cookie paper in the liner of your cap. I used to carry one in my wallet until it got wet and became illegible.)

The one hesitation I have with your advice is figuring out whether you are a Gifted, ESB, Kobe, or “everyone else” That seems like an impossible, if not potentially disheartening task. Why don’t we just acknowledge the two pieces of the puzzle and aim for Kobe?