Too many people shy away from hard work when they really should be working harder. From the inimitable Drayton Bird:
Assuming you and I work equally smart, I’d think whichever one of us worked the hardest would come out ahead. Hard work is good for what ails you.
When your business or job isn’t going the way you want it to, buckle down and redouble your efforts. You’ll be more productive, and at least some of your extra efforts will be rewarded – and hard work will have saved the day.
I recommend you read the entire post. I’ve been thinking about it almost daily since I read it a month ago.
King Solomon had much to say about the virtue of hard work. Here are a few choice quotes:
- “There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good.” Ecc. 2:24
- “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.” Ecc. 9:10
And one of my personal favorites:
- “Sow your seed in the morning and do not be idle in the evening, for you do not know whether morning or evening sowing will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good.” Ecc. 11:6
Hard work covers a multitude of failures. Not all of your work will pay off, but some of it will. To draw a baseball analogy, the more times you step up to the plate, the more chances you have of hitting a home run.
Hard work isn’t a curse; it’s a blessing. It’s satisfying in a way that many other things are not. And there is almost always a reward for the person who works diligently to grow a business enterprise.
Drayton concludes: “Business or career floundering? Not where you want it to be? Work twice as hard. You may get twice the results.”
Amen.
-Ryan M. Healy
Similar Posts:
- Spinning Plates
- Drayton Bird’s Top 20 Business Lessons
- A Little Direct Response Gold
- What a Strange Few Days It’s Been
- Desperation as a Marker of Success
About Ryan M. Healy
Ryan Healy is a direct response copywriter. Since 2002, he has worked with scores of clients, including BoostCTR, Alex Mandossian, Terry Dean, and Pulte Homes. He writes a popular blog about copywriting, advertising, and business growth, has been featured in publications like Feed Front magazine, and is a regular contributor to WordStream.com, BoostCTR.com, and MarketingForSuccess.com.
Every freelancer should read this report BEFORE they start accepting clients. And then re-read it again after they’ve had a few. This could easily save smart freelancers from getting ripped off and spinning their wheels with deadbeat clients. Click Here to Get the 31 Tips » |
{ 14 comments }
This is an awesome post as I feel too many people these days are trying to get something for nothing/very little.
I especially like the ‘sow your seeds in the morning…” quote. If you purposefully and intentionally plan out your day in the morning before you start, you are setting yourself up to actually get stuff done.
Thanks, Paul. Although I enjoyed The Four-Hour Workweek and have read it twice, too many people think you can actually get away with working just 4 hours a week. Even if I could, I wouldn’t want to! :-)
Benjamin Franklin said that, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” I say that, “An ounce of morning is worth a pound of afternoon” — which means that I get a lot more done before noon than after.
Thanks for sharing Ecc. 11:6 — it speaks to my need to figure out how to be more productive in the evening.
Hey Tom – I like to hit the gym early afternoon… my metabolism shoots up and then I’m highly productive from around 3 to 5:30 p.m.
Being a musician, I tend to feel more creative at night, after the hustle and bustle of the day, its time to philosophize. An owl can be just as industrious as the morning birds :)
I agree – It’s not so much the time of day you work, but that you actually get down to the business of hard work. :-)
Great article. I think we all need a kick in the ass from time to time. Thisreminded me to start marketing myself more &more focus in what needs to be done to make more moolah.
Dana Houser recently posted..You Don’t Want To Be A Benchwarmer
Thanks, Dana. Keep on doing what needs to be done. :-)
“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; . . .”
This is very similar to the wisdom that an old Italian carpenter tried to instill in his children: “Any job, big or small, do it right or not at all.” I knew one of the children and heard the quote many times.
There is also a biblical reference to broadcast planting that says when you cast the seed some will fall among the rocks and never have a chance, some will fall on sand and will sprout but wither and die and some will land on fertile soil and will flourish. Of course, none of that will happen if you don’t cast the seed.
And your quote reminds me of another: “There’s never time to do it right the first time, but there’s always time to do it right the second time.”
I’ve followed Drayton Bird since I picked up his book ‘Common Sense Direct Marketing’ over 20 years ago.
He has a way of putting things that make sense out of marketing by connecting them with our lives. For example in Common Sense Direct Marketing he tells the story of his first direct mail enterprise, which was in a partnership selling wigs. It turned into a loss making fiasco, despite hard work.
The point is though that Bird tells why the enterprise failed, and so used the experience to score a hit with his story in his book.
This is, to my mind, the mark of a master.
I agree with you Ryan, people are well advised to read his original post, and more generally to explore his web site.
Thanks for posting this,
Stephen
Thanks for your comment, Stephen.
Yeah, Drayton has more stories to tell than a library. Makes for enjoyable and entertaining reading.
I am a believer of these quotes of King Solomon, and I have cultivated the habit of toiling hard for anything. I like the wisdom of “Work twice as hard. You may get twice the results.” You never lose anything when you do hard work, only your sweat. And it’s good for the health, right?
Amy Turner recently posted..Student Credit Card Deals Can Make Spring Break More Affordable
Thanks for the comment, Amy. Wasted effort is frustrating, but not devastating. Even wasted effort can pay off down the road.
Comments on this entry are closed.