Skills and Talents

People often think of "skills" and "Talents" as being synonyms. However, I was interested to find if there was a difference, since I have never considered myself especially talented, but I am quite skilled at a variety of things. So here's how I would define a talent and a skill, just off the top of my head:

Talent: A special aptitude of a person to effectuate an action in a way that expresses themselves; a natural, creative ability for a certain action, often one that involves creating something (Eg. music, painting, etc.)

Skill: the ability of a person to effectuate an action with efficiency or precision.

I was surprised how close my definitions came to Merriam-Webster's English dictionary's. Here they are:

Talent: a special often athletic, creative, or artistic aptitude.

Skill:  the ability to use one's knowledge effectively and readily in execution or performance.

and you can see the clear difference between the two.

So, although I do believe that skills are important, I do not believe that all people are talented. some are merely skilled; and, more often that not, they are the ones who succeed moderately in life. So far. Maybe I will come across further information to change my perspective.