>You need to temper any goals you have with maturity and realism. I'm a terrible basketball player, but I'm sure if I spent 1hr/day every day playing pickup for 1 year, by the end of a year, I'll be better than at least half of the regulars. But if my expectations are that I'll be able to dunk and beat Michael Jordan, I'd be delusional.
I believe that's the point of the article. If you do your hardest, but still fail to beat Michael Jordan in a dunking contest, it's not because you were too lazy. It's not because you didn't try hard enough. It sure as hell isn't because you didn't bother trying.
It's just that you simply weren't lucky enough to possess some of the natural advantages Michael Jordan had. And it's important not to lose sight of that fact.