The Value of Hard Work

Check out this video on why it is so important to put in the work!

VIDEO SUMMARY

If you are going to be successful in business, you have to do hard work. You might be saying “yeah, yeah, I get it. Work hard.” But before you click away to another video, you’re going to want to hear this. I am going to share with you some insights about what hard work really means. And if you take the time to think through these ideas, it will really help you in your career, especially if you are just starting out.

The main idea you need to realize, is that people are naturally lazy. And I’m not saying this as a derogatory thing. Our brains and our bodies have developed over generations of evolution to conserve calories. That is how we have survived as a species. To burn as few calories as possible for the greatest benefit. Well, that is the definition of laziness, doing as little as possible. And this is how all of us are built. And you need to realize, that is your default position.

So when we talk about hard work, what we’re really talking about is overcoming this default position. Because if you go through your life, doing as little as possible, you’re not going to be successful.

So I think it’s helpful to talk through an example, so you can understand what is really going on here. You’re going to be going through life, and you are going to come to decision points. And these decisions are going to be things like: should I spend time playing video games or should I do my homework? Should I sleep in or wake up early and go to the gym? Should I spend my weekend partying with my friends or spend my weekend building a business? Should I choose an easy major in college, or a hard major in college? With each of these decisions, there is a choice that is lazy, and a choice that takes hard work.

You need to realize that these decision points are forks in the road of your life. My message to you in this video, is that choosing to do the hard work will pay off in your life. And the reason is that most people choose the lazy choice. Most people spend the weekend partying. Most people choose the easy major. So doing the hard work, really sets you apart. When you go into a job interview and show someone your resume, it becomes very apparent who has done the hard work in their lives and who has been lazy.

So the question becomes, if hard work pays off so much, why are people choosing to do the lazy thing? There are three main reasons for this:

• First, what makes these choices so difficult is your body is telling you to be lazy. You are fighting against your own biology. And you are able to overcome your biology by looking into the future, and knowing you are going to get a benefit from work.
• Second, the benefits from hard work are almost never instant. It might take decades to see the payoff from all this hard work you are doing. Because what is happening, is you are at this fork in the road making a choice. You choose the hard work and everyone else chooses to do the lazy thing. Let’s say you started doing this in your 20s. Well if you do this year, after year, after year, by the time you are in your 40s, no one is going to be able to compete with you. You have decades of hard work built up, when other people chose to do the lazy thing. And decades of hard work is not something anyone can make up overnight. And so you have created for yourself a really solid competitive advantage compared to your peers.
• Third, almost no one is doing hard work. You have probably heard of the 80/20 rule. That says that 80% of the value of a company comes from 20% of the workforce. So if you are in that 20%, doing all the hard work in the company, you are going to look at that other 80% of people and it is going to make you mad. And this is one of the biggest traps in business, especially when you are first starting out. Because you are going to look over at one of your peers, and you are going to realize they are a slacker. Both of you are in a similar position, getting paid the same amount of money. Why are you putting in all this hard work, when they are doing the bare minimum? And that is the trap. If you have those thoughts, you need to tell yourself that this is the moment that will define your career. You could be the person who goes above and beyond, or you can be the person who does the bare minimum. How you answer this question, will define the rest of your career.

And there are lots of benefits you will realize over the course of your career. Some things you will generally see is a higher salary, more rewarding work, recognition, a sense of accomplishment. You are building a career you can be proud of.

Now I want to give you a practical example of what I am actually talking about here. I got my first paying job when I was 15 years old, and I have been working ever since. In fact, I have always had 2 to 4 jobs at a time since I was 15. And I am counting school as one of those jobs. You should be going to school, having a second job, having an internship, building a business on the side, all at the same time. That is a lot of hard work. You need to work, work, work, work, work. And this will really pay off. Now I realize that I am more hardcore than most people. But make no mistake, you are competing with people in life, like me who are willing to put in the work. And I will give you an example of what you want to avoid. I see a lot of young people who are graduating with an undergrad degree, and who have never had a paying job in their life. This is exactly what I am talking about. These graduates are going to apply for their first job, and hand in a resume with no work experience at all. And they are going to be competing against someone with a ton of work experience. And that is why hard work pays off.

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Neither Zach De Gregorio or Wolves and Finance Inc. shall be liable for any damages related to information in this video. It is recommended you contact a CPA in your area for business advice.