One of the most serious conversations son and I ever had was in his senior year of HS when I told him that I worried he had been running on talent throughout high school and never learned to work. When he started college, he started dating a girl — usually the kiss of death for a lot of things.
Over the last three years, he became her study partner as she went to nursing school. In the process he learned to budget — she was on food assistance, worked and went to school full time and had no support from family — and to study. She just graduated and swears he could pass the nursing boards. But he got a history degree in three years, has been all academic Big 10 for the last two years, and now is working on a teaching certification.
In truth, I skated by for years on the ability to read fast and ace multiple choice tests. He's learned to work and I'm really proud of him.