In today’s manipulative and fast-growing world, hard work doesn’t seem enough. Adding something will get us the perfect success recipe.
The success strategy doesn’t completely rely on hard work now. There’s more to do.
We need to be fast and cunning (in a positive sense), apart from a majority of hard work to attain success.
People call it, “Smart Work.”
Smart work…what the hell is that?
Smart work is hard work with planning.
It is the hard work with a vision and several milestones.
A flexible roadmap that can change according to the situation’s needs and doesn’t stay rigid.
Hard work is all about the magnitude.
Smart work is all about the direction.
Thus, success is a vector quantity! It’s the velocity/momentum that you gain through speed (hard work) and direction (smart work).
Well, I’m done explaining physics. But I hope you get the point.
Smart Work has a few components
1. Planning
2. Aim
3. Milestones
4. Structure
5. A fixed direction to hit at
6. Good company
7. Healthy relations and collaborations
While Hard work has
1. Insane work
2. Workaholism
3. Stretching capabilities
4. Patience
5. Tensile strength
I don’t know if I missed any. But currently, I can only see these few aspects.
Why the confusion??
Many people stress over hard work.
I can hear you shouting from your screens at me, saying, “But we’re not fools! Even we do smart work! You’re not the only smarty in town.”
I very well know that my fellow writers. But I’m talking about the proportion.
How much smart work are we doing?
How much planning are we doing?
How much (in)consistent are we?
Are we surrounded by a like-minded group/individual?
Are our hard work and raw energy finding a direction to flow in?
Or is it finding thousands of streams to flow into? Where it gets scattered into even thinner streams and loses its force.
There’s no confusion. It is straight and simple.
You know what? I’m having a few e-mails and notifications to reply to but I’m still keeping myself grounded here to write this. ☹
Hard work is raw potential. If not given a direction, it’ll go waste. You can’t afford that to happen. Or can you? I don’t know about you, but I can’t.
That is why I’ve started devising plans and techniques to help myself. I’m with a Quora 2018 top writer and mentor, Prakash Kushwah. I have the right company. I have the right input.
But, smart work is not enough, either. (Ha! Ha! Ha! You guys must be thinking of me as a maniac!)
It is true, that even smart work is not enough! You need hard work for it.
I’ve seen many people with blueprints for success and plans in advance. They even have all set to just start.
They have the resources, platforms, and tools at their disposal to just start. But they won’t.
Hard work, you see! ? ?
Raw Power is Draining Your Power…
Hard work has its own drawbacks.
Hard work can’t be done all alone. It has to be balanced. Hard work and only hard work will burn you out. It’ll drain all your energy and there won’t be any visible outcomes. It’s RAW power, as I’ve said earlier.
Hard work has a the massive potential, but it needs a catalyst.
Imagine this.
You’ve drunk petrol. You’re running like crazy. Running in every direction. Banging your head in walls and buildings. No direction. Only speed.
And this is the fun part. You’re trying to get to the hospital. Many people are trying to stop you and calling the ambulance. Some are trying to show you the way or hand you a map. But you won’t stop.
What’s going to happen in the end? You’re going to slowly drain on power and then collapse on the ground. Boom! You’re done!
This is what happens when you drink only Petrol (Hard Work) without any balancing agent (Smart Work).
Over-smartness won’t push us ahead
Not only hard work has drawbacks, but even smart work has. I don’t like to corner hard work too much. I can hear it sobbing in a corner. ?
Smart work, honestly speaking makes you lazy and a master procrastinator.
Our mind, a two-faced intelligence is always finding ways to deceive you into cozy habits.
You’ll sit to watch TED talks to get ideas and build your future plan. After a few minutes, you’ll be watching Justin Bieber singing on an interview. You’ll say, “Oh! It’s an interview where Bieber is telling how to get successful. Really inspiring!”
Yes, inspiring indeed! ? ?
Take another example.
You’re at home, retired. Planning to start a business.
You know a great investor. You even have a friend that can be of great help in this venture of yours. You even have enough money. You’ve planned on how you’re going to start.
But…you won’t start!
We have a direction, but no speed. We won’t speed up in the decided direction.
Conclusion
We all need to quit the confusion and the two extremes. Stay on both sides, in this case. Maintain a balance.
We can’t have water if you keep collecting Hydrogen. Or just Oxygen. You need Hydrogen AND Oxygen to obtain water. The life-giving compound, H2O, is also made out of a perfect balance and proportion.
Then why can’t success deserve the same reputation? Why can’t we collectively do smart work and hard work in correct proportions? We can. And probably we should.
My main problem has been of extremes. I either plan too much or I work too much.
Just day before yesterday, I was working till late at night. Writing an article with weary eyes and a worn out brain.
Smart work, in this situation, tells us that we should stop. Unplug from technology a bit. Read something or interact with a few living and breathing beings.
Or probably you should plan your next day and then just RELAX! To unplug and recharge.
Turn striving into thriving. Striving is hard work. Sitting and waiting for the right moment is smart work. And a blend of both of them is thriving.
So stop the conflict. Stop the confusion. The match is always going to result in a draw. No matter how many times you watch it.
So Thrive. Don’t Strive.
Originally published at thecreative.cafe