Interest and Talent

If all of us are equally smart, then why some become high achiever while others spend whole life envying? The key is at the path of building experience. Some are interested in the experience they were building and motivated along the path, while most of us seems don't have such strong interest and somehow unlucky in getting all those motivations. There are certainly environmental issues. Some learning environment is very motivating, such as close competitions. We will experience most rewarding learning when we are actively participating in some formal or informal competitions. If it appears no body in the world would care what you were learning, we would hardly have any persistent energy to learn at all.

Then there is this mysterious element called interest. It is apparent that we are not born equal. Even infants would show different characters from very active to very quiet. So is it true that we each have our own natural interest, is it true that this teeny bit of difference in our born interest determines the fate of our life?