The Power of Hard Work

Posted at February 2, 2009

Power Series

Don’t throw in the towel if you need to succeed in life. You will need it 99% of the time. Success is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Success does not come easy. You must be willing and able to work hard and sweat for it. Positive thinking will only take you so far. You need to put in the hours and apply yourself to your goals.

I grew up on a small farm on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. My family would work very hard in tilling the land, planting the seeds, weeding and harvesting. I learned the power of sheer hardwork by observing the fruits of our labor on the farm compared to some of the less hardworking neighbors. There is no shortcut; you either work hard and succeed, or be lazy and fail.

If you work harder than the next guy, with all things being equal, you will experience a greater level of success. Be prepared to put in the hours and whatever else it takes to realize your dreams.

This blog preaches positive thinking as the path for success. However positive thinking alone will not put food on the table. You cannot think positive and succeed unless you are willing to back it up with serious action. Hardwork is what separates average people from those that rise above mediocrity. You must be willing to take on the challenges that others will not dare before you can wear the badge of success.

If you set clear goals that are in line with your mission in life, and do something that you love, working hard should come naturally. If it doesn’t don’t sweat it, just work hard anyway. Working hard means putting targeted effort towards your goals day in day out. It means applying yourself to the task at hand to the best of your abilities.

Many creative people will tell you to work smarter not harder. That sounds very grand and seductive. Many people fall for it. I am all for working smart, but I am telling you, even the smartest workers still have to work hard to setup smart systems to work for them.

Next time you hear about the overnight sensation or millionaire, step back and think. Ask yourself, did it REALLY happen overnight or was there years of patience and hardwork? Many people just don’t realize what it takes to make a success in business, sports, music and other fields of endeavor. Many of us only see the crowning moment of success but not its growing pains.

The growing pains of success  are embodied by many sports men and women. They go through great pains to practice and perfect their game, then make it look easy. One mighty Australian sports man made cricket batting look easy. His name was Donald Bradman.

Sir Donald George Bradman

donald-bradman

Sir Donald George Bradman, AC (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), often referred to as The Don, was an Australian cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. Bradman’s career Test batting average of 99.94 has been claimed to be statistically the greatest achievement in any major sport.

I have great respect for the Don. I am particularly inspired by his rise from bush cricket to international cricket through hard work and single minded desire to succeed.

Bradman practised batting incessantly during his youth. He invented his own solo cricket game, using a cricket stump for a bat, and a golf ball. A water tank, mounted on a curved brick stand, stood on a paved area behind the family home. When hit into the curved brick facing of the stand, the ball rebounded at high speed and varying angles—and Bradman would attempt to hit it again. This form of practice developed his timing and reactions to a high degree.

He may have looked like an overnight sensation but it had taken years of practice. A good coach tells his athletes to learn the basics of the sport and practice until it becomes second nature. Batting seemed like second nature to the Don. Whatever your field or goal, you can work harder, practice more, until it becomes second nature.

Remember this: You will succeed if you work hard. Just put in the hours and boost your productivity on the job. Devise your own techniques and practice how to get more out of the day. Give exceptional value to your employer, customers or whatever you are doing.

Do not stagnate by taking the easy road in life. Most people are lazy and will go for the easy road. Apply yourself more than the next person and you will be surprised by how far you will end up.

Exceptional Quotes about Hardwork.

  • I do not know anyone who has gotten to the top without hard work. That is the recipe. It will not always get you to the top, but it will get you pretty near.  Margaret Thatcher
  • I’m a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.  Thomas Jefferson
  • Unless you are willing to drench yourself in your work beyond the capacity of the average man, you are just not cut out for positions at the top. J.C. Penney
  • Hard work is the key to success, so work diligently on any project you undertake. If you truly want to be successful, be prepared to give up your leisure time and work past 5 PM and on weekends. Also, have faith in yourself. If you come up with a new idea that you believe in, don’t allow other people to discourage you from pursuing it. Charles Lazarus
  • Hard work certainly goes a long way. These days a lot of people work hard, so you have to make sure you work even harder and really dedicate yourself to what you are doing and setting out to achieve.  Lakshmi Mittal
  • Striving for success without hard work is like trying to harvest where you haven’t planted.  David Bly
  • Hard work is painful when life is devoid of purpose. But when you live for something greater than yourself and the gratification of your own ego, then hard work becomes a labor of love. Steve Pavlina
  • I’ve always worked very, very hard, and the harder I worked, the luckier I got. Alan Bond
  • The three great essentials to achieve anything worth while are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense. Thomas Edison
  • Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Accordingly a genius is often merely a talented person who has done all of his or her homework. Thomas Edison
  • I really want people to know that I’ve worked hard, very hard, to get to where I am today.. this didn’t just happen overnight. I started in business over 25 years ago and have found a way to build on what I’ve learned through every partnership and opportunity. Magic Johnson
  • Nothing of great value in this life comes easily. The things of highest value sometimes come hard. The gold that has the greatest value lies deepest in the earth, as do the diamonds. Norman Vincent Peale

In this Series:

Series Navigation«The Power of Positive ThinkingThe Power of Perspectives»

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