The Problem With Working Hard
People are taught to work hard. This is a problem. Because working hard often does not lead to success. Working smart is what will help you to succeed.
It is often said that working hard is the way to success. It is better to work smart. Just like most things, what you are often taught or told by society is wrong.
The Problem With Working Hard
The reality is that working hard is overrated. If working hard was how people built wealth, then night stockers and construction workers would be millionaires. The problem with working hard is that you usually do the same task receptively. You are wasting your time if the job you are focusing on does not help you achieve your goals or increase your income.
You may do the same tasks daily, but you remain where you are. It could be that you are still stuck working a job you hate. Or, you haven’t found a way to create a passive income stream.
The problem could be that you need to focus on the right thing. You may be doing something that you are not skilled at. You may be trying to do what worked for a successful influencer who has different skills than you.
You need to know your skills rather than trying to do what worked for someone else.
Hard Work Does Not Always Pay Off
In the majority of cases, hard work does not pay off. Some people may be discovered, have an article, or a video blow up that gives them success. In those cases, it was due to luck. While they did continue to never stop, it may have led to some success.
You may find yourself repeatedly doing the same thing. The reality is that your time and productivity may be better spent elsewhere. You can use hard work to build the foundation, but it is better to work smart.
Hard Work Is Needed For The Foundation
Hard work is mostly only needed when learning about something new, starting a new project, or beginning a venture. Once you have laid the foundation of your knowledge and skills, you want to work smart.
When you focus on hard work, you do not care about where your energy or productivity is going. It is often tasks that are boring that you must do. In contrast, if you are working smart, you are working on a task or project that will help you to reach your goals.
Working hard most often means that you are working slowly. Working smart means that you want to find the path of least resistance to finish a project.
Work Smart
You can work smart by prioritizing your most important tasks. You can figure out the tasks that you must finish to help you reach whatever goal you want to achieve. If your goal is to lose weight, you will want to figure out the best way. It may mean reading articles about diets and exercising, then applying the knowledge. It could mean hiring a personal trainer to make a plan to help and hold you accountable to reach your goal.
You may want to determine how to build a first or second-income stream. You will want to know your strengths to decide what to focus on to make a passive income stream. Just because something worked for someone else does not mean that strategy will work for you. If you are a writer, you could write books, journals, and workbooks. If you are charismatic and good on camera, you could build an audience faster on YouTube and TikTok and get ad revenue. You could also combine these ways to make money online once you expand.
When starting, working smart and focusing on one thing is critical. That one thing will most often be what you are most skilled at. Focus on one thing at a time rather than on many things.
Shiny Object Syndrome
You may think you need thirty thousand followers before you can make money by applying to affiliate programs. You direct your productivity, time, and attention to growing your social networks: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, et cetera. By doing this, you spend all your time focused on social media rather than building something that will help you.
Your time would be better spent building your own website, Substack, and developing products to sell to customers. This story may resonate with people because this was what I did. I focused too much on social media because I had shiny object syndrome. Instead, I should have focused on what I was best at— writing.
Since I have started to work smart instead of hard, I am preparing to self-publish my first book and grow on the two platforms that are most important to me: my website and Substack.
There may be an example of something similar in your own life. It may not be with social media, but it could be with a project you never could finish for some reason. Or, you may wonder why you are always trying to do something that you don’t have the skills to do.
Stop chasing shiny objects. Stop doing things that you are not good at. Start to focus on your strengths. You will then discover over time that you have success.
You can learn to work smart by focusing on one thing instead of many things and knowing your skills.
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Summary
Hard work can only get you so far. It would help if you learned to work smart. The two are often thought to be the same. But they are very different from each other.
You must work smart if you want to reach your goals.
Become A Secure Single.
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Views expressed in this article are the author's opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of Secure Single. It is intended for informational and educational purposes only. It is not investment, financial, or legal advice. Consult with a financial or legal professional before making investment or legal decisions. James Bollen is the author of Thriving Solo: How to Flourish and Live Your Perfect Life (Without A Soulmate). It is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.
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