Written by: Vickie Sullivan | September 03, 2019
What Hard Work Really Looks Like
This past, we celebrated the role work plays in our lives. In the United States, it’s conventional wisdom that hard work is the ticket to success.
I beg to differ. Sure, work is required. You must be willing to devote real effort before harvesting the fruits of your labor. But the real challenge is not how hard you work, but where.
Too many of us work hard, but we do it within our comfort zone. We set up systems to be efficient. We work many hours to serve our clients. When it gets, easy, we tell ourselves, “Well, I’m more experienced now. Of course it’s supposed to be easy.” The tasks, yes, but not the environment.
What if our real work, where we create the breakthroughs, is outside our comfort zone? What if the work is not only the amount of activity, but also the willingness to risk what we don’t want to lose? To sacrifice the safety we worked so hard to create?
It’s OK to coast. There are times in our lives when our attention is needed elsewhere (like family or our health). But make no mistake: The difference between those who do a good job and those who change the world lies in the where, not the how much.
As we celebrate all that we’ve achieved, let’s ask a bigger question: Where are we needed the most? And let’s go there.
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