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Why hard work is so important (and still under-rated)
Work Becomes Play
Discover something you love to do, that you’re good at doing, and that you can get compensated for.
When work becomes play, it doesn't stress us out and doesn't seem to exhaust us. Work that is fun for us, becomes great work. Joyful, meaningful work is one of the keys to being successful.
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Key Ideas
Working Hard
"Work Hard" is one of the oldest pieces of advice for success. According to the author Malcolm Gladwell, it takes 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to attain mastery.
Doing anything worthwhile requires hard work, becoming great at it requires an obsession. Plus, hard work is the one prerequisite for changing the world.
40 Hours A Week
Truly working 40 hours in a week is rare because just completing your work hours doesn't amount to real work. 40 hours of great work output can come from 60 or more hours of 'regular' work.
Work can also take many different forms, and is not confined to the working that is 'visible'.
Success Requires Sacrifice
A handful of people who have gotten extraordinarily lucky make it seem like success may be easy for anyone.
Success isn't a cakewalk and requires sacrifices, crazy hours, and pain. Success is filled with disappointment and setbacks along the journey.
One Thing At A Time
Focus on what you are great at, and what you want to do for the rest of your life, as time is a limited resource, and you cannot be great at everything. Attain mastery by focusing on one thing and utilizing your time well, instead of being distracted with multiple options.
Time Spent Working
This is not a reliable metric for hard work.
True success is achieved by working in a focused way with quality output, and cannot be measured by counting the work hours.
Genius Work is Done Alone
Genius level work is often done alone. Deep, creative work requires 'flow' and that is best achieved when you have no one around them to distract the train of thought and the creative sparks that arise in a quiet state.
Massive Success
Massive Success means being the absolute best of your domain. There are three ways one can be massively successful:
- Getting extraordinarily lucky
- Being born with exceptional gifts that no one has.
- Working crazy hours.
SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
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You Are Your Job
Life has shaped us to do our jobs in a weird, almost comical way.
We are entangled to our jobs, and keep doing it way after our office hours, not because we are scared to lose our j...
Jobs: The Early Years
Dialling back a couple of generations, jobs were just jobs, plain vanilla. No one liked working, but it was a compromise of 40 to 60 hours a week of stressful or boring work. Due to this, our parents could live their lives, enjoying with family in evenings, and weekends, celebrating special days, vacationing once a year and doing other things that were provided by the security of a monthly income.
It paid for the food, the car, our education and the bills. There was nothing romantic about it.
Jobs: Now
Technology and modern consumerism, coupled with peer pressure have created a perfect storm of our work dominating our lives in unheard-of ways. Securing and maintaining a high-profile job is not possible for the laid back slacker, trying to enjoy his weekends doing gardening the whole day.
The older generation is baffled by our approach, and feel that we are doing the impossible by trying to find meaning and purpose in our jobs.
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Meaningful productivity
The best work happens in short intensive deep work spurts (1–3 hours, no distractions).
Your best thinking will actually happen while you’re away from your work, “recovering.” B...
The first 3 hours of the day
...are your most precious for maximized productivity.
Your brain is most attuned first thing in the morning, and so are your energy levels. Consequently, the best time to do your best work is during this time.
The “90–90–1” rule
Spend the first 90 minutes of your workday on your #1 priority, nothing else.
Zero distractions. Just get that work done.
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Why Change Is So Hard
Changing is necessary and takes energy but our brains tend to try to conserve energy as much as possible. So we have mental biases that influence our behaviors and make us shy away from opportun...
Make Change a Team Effort
“Role Modelling” is one of the main factors behind successful change in organizations and consists of inspiring change by example.
While leadership will ultimately give you sign-off, the rest of the team will determine its success. So in an organizational setting, you must convince everyone of the necessity of change.
Know Who You’re Dealing With
In a collection of individuals, one bad seed can kill all the hard work you’re putting in. You must understand who you are working with so you can tailor your message and actions so no one becomes a bad seed. To do this, sort your team in the following categories:
- Fast Yes: those on your team and ready to work to implement the change.
- Slow Yes: slightly skeptical but still open and can see the value in what you’re doing.
- Fast No: quick to dismiss change but clarity and decisiveness can change that and turn them into strong supporters.
- Slow No: look like they can be persuaded but have already decided against you and will stall and undermine. Here, convincing by example is the best route.
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