If we ask a few random people on the street about the secrets of success, chances are “hard work” will be a standard answer. Indeed, many believe that working hard is the roadway to success. However, working hard does not necessarily bring success, nor does it sounds like an intelligent way to get things done. This article addresses these two facts.

Doing the right thing.

Hard work may or may not help someone achieve something in their lives. There are a lot of other factors that are equally or more important. For example, you can think of the times that we live in as one such factor.

No matter how hard you try, if what you do is not in accordance with the times we exist, it will fail. For example, opening a cafe in a society under quarantine is not a smart move, no matter how hard you try or are willing to try.

People who are successful are successful not because they necessarily work hard. Someone is successful because they know what are the right things to do with their kind of job. If you do the right thing, what you do will work, and success becomes a step closer.

Work in joy, not hard

Imagine that you meet a new person who tells you that they work hard. What would you think? Is this person having a good time at work? The answer will most probably be “No,” but still, some of you may argue “Work is not about having a good time”.

Sure, work is not about having a good time, but at the same time, work is not about having a bad time either. There are many aspects to it, and one view is examined in a previous blog here. In another aspect, work is about getting things done. I’d like to ask you: On one certain day, when will you get more things done; when you are happy or when you are miserable?

If you have not noticed already, you can look at the past weeks and see how your mood was when you had a productive day. Of course, whether you are happy or miserable, you will do some work. However, when you are happy, you can do more work in the same span. So, being happy is not just a matter of sense; it is a matter of productivity too.

Why people work hard

When you work hard, the chances that you get miserable in the process increase. You can try and see. Work hard, really hard, every day for the next 3 months. It is very possible that by the second month, you would like some holiday. If you are making yourself miserable in the process of working, this means there is room to improve.

We can notice and logically see that working with joy is superior to working hard. However, why does someone is forced to work hard in the first place? Sure, there is social pressure and the fact that we get conditioned to believe hard work always brings results. Apart from that social aspect, there is also the way we experience our life.

When this blog says, “Life is all Around”, it also means that work is part of life too. The way we work, the way we experience the moments we are at work, is in our hands. No matter the work: from a job in a multi-billion company to being self-employed, we can choose to do the work hard, or we can choose to do the work joyfully. That’s a message this blog wants to spread.

Take away:

• Someone is successful not necessarily because they work hard; they are successful because they know what are the right things to do with their kind of job.
• When you work hard, the chances that you get miserable in the process increase.
• When you are happy, you can get more things done than when you are miserable.