Like others have already guessed, I would suspect you are probably an LSI hence the disregard for
and usage of
.
I disagree, people's innate ability does influence one's ability to accomplish things. I agree with you that what people actually manage to do is a contributing factor towards accomplishing a goal, but it is not the only factor. Innate ability affects several things in terms of accomplishing a goal, which are:
1. Skill floor - The skill you possess without any practice
2. Learning curve - How quickly you learn a specific skill set
3. Skill ceiling - The maximum amount of skill you can obtain after you have mastered it (10,000 hours of practice)
Let's say person A is a 2/10 in singing without any practice, which would be their skill floor, but after mastering it through significant amounts of practice they become a 7, which would be their skill ceiling, which is good, but far from spectacular.
Person B on the other hand is a 7/10 in singing without any practice due to natural talent, but after mastering it they become a 10/10, which would make their skill ceiling significantly higher than person B.
That is what potential is, it's what someone is capable of achieving through hard work and dedication. Person A had little talent in singing so was only able to achieve what person B naturally had without any practice. So of course person A could achieve the skill level of person B, but that's only if person B neglects to practice and person A practices significantly.
Of course, this example is an exaggeration, but I did it to prove a point. I'm aware that most people would fall in between these two extreme examples. If potential was an equation it would essentially be:
Potential = Talent x Hard work