Hard work is NOT the key to success
….sorry hate to bring that up NOW, but there is still time to fix it
Today I want to share with you something exciting.
Should you work hard?
You see, we all have been conditioned to believe that if we want to succeed, we must work hard for it.
But is working hard the answer?
And if you’re not working hard, does that mean you’re going to fail?
Well, there is nothing wrong with working hard.
The problem is that we work hard on the wrong thing.
Time to debunked the myth.
I’m not against working hard or hustling, but I’m suggesting you should check your direction before pouring in all your effort.
It doesn’t really matter how fast you’re going if you’re heading in the wrong direction.
Speed is irrelevant when you’re running in the wrong direction.
Thus, make sure you work hard on the right thing.
More Does Not Mean Better
Working hard and doing more may not be as ideal as you imagined. In fact, society has trained us to believe that more work leads to better results, which is not really true. More work only creates busyness. You can work hard, but all you do is create low-impact tasks for yourself if you are not effective.
When it comes to being effective, you need to work on the right activities that will lead you to the most result, and not simply do more.
I want to briefly introduce you to the 5 Principles of Working Better before you do.
1. Work for the Right Purpose
The first thing you need to check is to see if you are working on the right purpose. Why do you work? Why do you wake up each morning and get to work?
As you climb the ladder of success, be sure it is leaning against the right wall. If the ladder is not leaning against the right wall, every step we take just gets us to the wrong place faster.
STEPHEN COVEY
If you don’t want your effort to go wasted, make sure you work on the right purpose.
2. Work on the Right Plan
Are your plans and strategies working for you? If your plan is not working, no matter how hard you work, you will still produce the same results or wrong results.
For example, the strategy to earn $1,000 a month and earn $100,000 a month is totally different.
I see this over and over again. A business builder joins a “challenge” along the way the host offers to sell a plan that will make it all work. The business builder buys the program and fails. Why?
If you want to get from point A to point B, you can take a bus, drive a car, ride a bicycle, walk, or even take a flight. The problem with “one size fits all plans is they rarely fit anyone but the seller. By taking the time to know your resources and goals, you get a plan that works for you, not a plan that requires your spend trying to figure out how to make it all work.
Your strategy matters. When you follow the right plan, you will get the right result. Having a coach that sees you is critical. Please stop buying other people's leftovers.
3. Work for Improvement
The third key you should consider is about improvement. You should work hard, but are you improving along the way, or do you just put in the hard work and doing the same thing every day?
In the book, Duckworth says that people can jog and run for years, but that does not mean that they are as good as a professional athlete or qualify for the Olympics. Why? Failure to work for improvement.
Working hard and repeating what you do each day does not mean that you are improving.
Yes, you have to work hard, and at the same time, you must make sure that you are improving. If you are not improving or getting better, you are only repeating the same process and producing the same old results. Even after twenty years down the road, you’ll still be getting nowhere.
If you’re serious about achieving great success, you must aim to improve along with your journey. You work hard, and at the same time, you deliberately practice your craft to become a master in what you do.
4. Work With Passion
I bet you have heard this phrase at least a thousand times, “work hard and follow your passion.” I believe that passion is essential when it comes to working hard.
Steve Jobs got it right, he said:
Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.
STEVE JOBS
Your work will fill a large part of your life, and if you don’t like your work, you are actually spending most of your life working on things you dislike. How wasteful is that?
Imagine if you are working on things you love doing and have a passion for, don’t you think your life will be totally different?
So choose to work hard on things that you are passionate about.
Passion and enthusiasm say it all.
5. Work to Create More Value For Others
Don’t just work hard because you want to make a lot of money. Work hard because you want to create more value for others and make the world a better place.
Take a look at the most highly successful people out there, people like Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk. They are already a billionaire, why do they still work hard each day?
He’s trying to make Amazon a platform for shopping that focuses on customer service.
Mark Zuckerberg says:
“The thing that we are trying to do at Facebook, is just help people connect and communicate more efficiently.”
He’s trying to build a social network for people to connect easily.
Jeff Bezos of Amazon says:
“We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.”
Thus, create more value, help, and learn to make society and the world a better place.
IN CLOSING
Before you work hard, make sure you understand these 5 keys mentioned above. Here’s the recap:
- Work hard for the right purpose.
- Work hard on the right plan and strategy.
- Work hard and aim for improvement along the way.
- Work hard with passion and enthusiasm.
- Work hard to serve and to create more value for others.
So, do you think you should work hard now?
My answer is yes, we all should work hard in life to achieve what we desire, but don’t just work hard blindly, follow these 5 Principles of Working Better and work hard. And you will do just fine.
