Success = hard work?
Many people associate success with hard work. Our parents have told us so. Our relatives have told us so. And even our teachers have told us so. But how true is that?
In a way, it’s true that in order to be successful, one needs to work harder than usual. However, the meaning of the term “work hard” has often being misinterpreted. Most people think that working hard means you need to dedicate an awful amount of time into whatever that you are working on – be it your day job, personal projects, pursuing your dreams, etc. But that doesn’t take away the fact that each of us has only 24 hours a day (do tell me if you have more than that).
So what does this mean? It means your work life balance will be gone. You will spend more time in your work than other things. Your relationship with the people around you might become sour since you just do not have enough time for them. This is all because of one reason – you need to work hard in order to be successful and achieve your dreams..or at least, that’s what most of us believe in. If there’s no hard work, there’s no success.
But if you’ve been doing this all this while, I can only say “Good for you, but sorry to say that should not be the way”.
In my opinion, success should not be associated with the “hard work” that we all know. Perhaps it’s better if we redefine the term “hard work” to “100% focus“.
I notice that most often than not, people who claim they are working hard, are distracted by other less important things. They can spend 14 hours a day working on something, but in between that 14 hours, they basically spend 4 or 5 hours doing something which is entirely unrelated. Things like reading articles, nonsense emails, blogging or anything which is not directly in line with the direction. These things should be ignored. You can do them when you’re free.
So here’s the equation:
success = hard work
hard work = 100% focus
success = 100% focus
Remember that even if you are working 14 hours a day, it cannot be regarded as “hard work” if you are actually not giving 100% focus to the things that matter. So stop complaining to people that you need to work so hard (thus neglecting your work life balance) in order to achieve certain objectives. Start looking at what are the things that you normally do in that 14 hours. Cut out what is not necessary and focus on what is important. I am pretty sure that you can actually achieve work life balance again after that.
And replacing those unnecessary things with a proper work life balance (like accompanying your loved ones, or do some gardening, yoga, etc) is definitely a good thing to do. 
Last but not least…… always remember that you are human and not a machine. Work life balance IS very important. So start focusing on the things that matter…get done with them and turn your attention to yourselves and the people that you care.
p/s…. and of course, luck, opportunities and circumstances also play an important role in achieving success. but that’s another topic altogether.
well , its true ..
back in university, there will be some kid who studies like crazy , and get average result . and there will be a kid who drinks n bang chicks every night and he scores a good result ..
his 2 hours is equivalent to the nerd’s 20 hours
i guess it is 100% focus + method
gapnaps last blog post..Shredamerica part 2
gapnap
1 May 09 at 10:48 am
@ gapnap
I wonder if this is applicable to work. 
That’s why people said study smart and not just study hard?
Alvin Lim
1 May 09 at 11:33 pm
I think work smart still applicable to work. I like the idea of 100% focus == success. Until today, I can’t really 100% focus not just work but almost everything. I’m still learning…
ChampDog
2 May 09 at 9:49 am
working ? hmm..a lil bit more complicated ..
there’s always short term gain , long term loss
and long term gain , short term loss ..
sometimes it feels like you’re working so hard for nothing..
but 10 years down the line you would probably think ..”good think i went through that so that i can face tomorrow”
gapnaps last blog post..Ok lah , Shredamerica guitars
gapnap
2 May 09 at 10:13 am
The end result of focus, IMO, is efficiency. Get more things done given the same amount of time. So in theory I agree, the more efficient you are, the more you produce. The more you produce, the more successul you become. Especially true if you are in sales.
The only iffy part is, will the environment let you focus. Tell u something. In a previous salaried job, I was asked to wear a few hats. Talent management, project management, strategic brand management (and a little PR sometimes), and occasion – programming. In C++. That’s when we had a deadline in danger of slipping.
Apparently I was one of those multitalented people and it was a shame to let some of it go unused, they said. Best of all, they had me do it all on one paycheck. 
Was I able to focus? Hahaha, no way in hell. I was all over the place. But it did do something good. It allowed me to learn how to run an entire shop on my own. So in a weird way, it was my ticket to (hopefully) success.
Damien Tan
2 May 09 at 4:48 pm
@ ChampDog
I’m also learning too. Nowadays, I tend to cut out on things which are not really important.
Well, the objective of this post is actually to tell people that, success is not just about hard work. A lot of people complain that they cannot be successful no matter how hard they work. Actually, their hard work is not really hard work.
Either that, or they’re using the wrong approach altogether.
@ gapnap
Things happen for a reason? As Steve Jobs once said, in the end, all the dots will connect with each other.
@ Damien
Hmm but I believe if one has the enough experience, he or she should know what is the best way to do things – thus, improving efficiency.
Hmm efficiency can also mean the way you do things, and that can actually be quite different. One person’s work can be more efficient than the others even though both are 100% focusing on the work.
So, more focus = more efficient = higher chance for success.
Environment is very important. Imagine if your surrounding area is not suitable for u to focus on anything…it’s really very difficult to work.
But for your case, your focus is actually to be a generalist – everything.
So it’s not that bad because u learn a lot on everything as well. It allows you to, as you said, run your own business. 
Alvin Lim
2 May 09 at 9:19 pm
I like this post. Thumbs up!
It’s hard to stay 100% focus when you have Internet access. Unless they block all unrelated sites like Facebook and YouTube.
Apple
3 May 09 at 8:55 am
@ Apple
Thanks Apple!
Hmm, self-control I guess. I prefer to have the internet around so that I can use Google.
Alvin Lim
3 May 09 at 11:37 am