Hard Work; Does It Still Pay Off?

02 Nov Hard Work; Does It Still Pay Off?

We’ve all heard at one time or another the cliché “hard work pays off.” In my recent studies, I began to question that notion. In his book, “The Freedom Entrepreneur, why hard work causes business failure and what to do about it,” author Peter Carey, suggests that hard work blocks intuition. He goes on to say that one can create a successful business without ever doing hard work. Now if you are a high achiever, like myself, you would hear this message and think, “wait a minute, I’ve worked very hard in my business or profession and look where it has gotten me.” You may even go as far as to believe you wouldn’t be the man or woman you are today without working very hard.

As I delved in deeper into this topic, I discovered some very interesting facts. Most of the world (excluding U.S.) agrees with Carey in this way. In fact, according to several articles, studies show that people in America work harder than in any other country. This is due to several factors such as:
• Employers in the United States are not obligated to offer any paid vacation
• Vacation is mandated by law in many other parts of the world
• Poll: Only 57% of U.S. workers use up all of the vacation days they’re entitled to

I get it. The “norm” is most of us have bought into the idea that if you want to be successful, you must work hard. We tend to equate effort with productivity and success when, in fact, doing excessive quantities of work and doing the wrong type of work, will lead to poor self-care and less productivity.

The author suggests that an entrepreneur should build in specific non-work hours into their daily routine. In other words, be intentional about not working so hard. It’s no doubt that running a business, managing people, making sales, financial forecasting, etc… is hard work; however, you don’t have to work hard as you have been. Instead, you can work smarter on your business by working less in your business. For more information, I encourage you to grab a copy of Carey’s book. You may also see where America ranks in work verses productivity. Most importantly, contact me for a free consultation on ways to produce more by working less.