Most of us are gifted in some way.  Everyone I know is [smart/talented/funny/hardworking/disciplined/genius/creative/powerful/wise/profound/beautiful/eloquent/take your pick].  My question is:  when it comes time to do a task, who’s actually going to DO it? (And from brutally unpleasant firsthand experience, I can attest that demonstrating superior effort comes in a distant, DISTANT second to actually accomplishing the damn task.)  And that’s not even the kicker.  The kicker is:  who can you trust to do it over and over again?  All those boring, unsexy basics like discipline, creative problem-solving, positive aggression, attention to detail, critical thinking, tracking the evidence and applying it to the next thing…

Yep, those basics never stop being important.