Prodigies exist. Some people learn faster than others, and some have ability that's just leaps and bounds beyond anybody else. This is independent of hard work, but somebody who has talent but doesn't do the hard work isn't going to be very good. At one end of the bell curve are people who just aren't going to get it no matter what, and prodigies are at the other end. Most people are in the middle: they can become technically proficient with hard work, but they'll never be as good as a prodigy who works just as hard.