Who is she? I’ve never heard of anyone being successful but not hard working. Pass.
Its one factor of many, including (but not exclusive to) intelligence, skills, experience, and luck. Unlike the rest, though, it’s also one of very few things you have direct control over.
I’d say Hardwork is usually a requirement for success (unless you’re born into it) but it certainly isn’t a guarantee of success, you can work hard and not be successful, but unless very lucky or privillaged you will not be successful unless you work hard.
Hard work is one of many factors needed for success. If you are hard working, you won’t necessarily be guaranteed success, but on the other hand if you are lazy and not hard working then the chances of success are almost zero.
I’m so tired of articles like this pushing bullshit narratives. Being successful is actually not that complicated and mostly down to hard work. Just do these things:
1) do your homework
2) listen in class at your £20k a year school
3) listen to your £90/hr private tutor
4) go to a Russel group uni
5) get some unpaid internships, family should help this
6) get a good job, pay for a job coach if you need to
7) use trust fund to buy your first house
See, ain’t that hard. People these days need to stop expecting handouts.
This is in essence the death of the American dream that Miller wrote about.
The idea that anyone, could, through hard work and application, rise to become “wealthy” – if it was ever true at all, it’s certainly no longer the case. The few exceptions are those lucky enough to be given an opportunity and intelligent/educated and supported sufficiently to take it.
By far the most certain route to wealth is of course to start with it.
How many times have you worked for a company, worked hard as well, been diligent, conscientious and seen other people promoted who didn’t put the work / effort in. They just happened to drink with a manager/ play football with a manager / say yes to everything etc etc.
If you don’t believe in free will, you’d likely agree with this.
[deleted]
Success is a person thing. If you’re clinically depressed, yet you get up in the morning and make yourself breakfast, that’s a success. If you’re money-driven, and you save enough to buy a house at a young age, that’s a success. Stop comparing yourself to other people’s, or society’s, ideas of success, it’s only going to make you feel worse that you didn’t do more.
Lot of people on this thread seem to be confusing success with wealth. Everybody’s definition is different and being wealthy is only a single facet of the success story.
I’m not wealthy by any means but as far as success goes I feel I have won at life. One of those major successes was not having to work hard for long periods of time.
Plenty of incompetents have fallen upwards, BoJo for example.
Hard work is the investment you make and it has a probability of paying off and making you successful and a probability of not paying off and all being for nothing.
If you don’t invest you won’t be successful, but to assume a 100% probability is wrong. In truth, most people work very hard and don’t end up rich and successful. But it’s a gamble, if you don’t invest that time you are guaranteed to not be successful so makes more sense to give it a try.
But people who say things like “hard work pays off” have confirmation bias. If you’re able to truly say that about yourself, then you’re fortunate.
Don’t really get into the debate about silver spoon etc though. Success is relative, it’s the % improvement in life relative to starting point. People born with privilege are still average in their world, they don’t know any different and the benchmark for thems a lot higher to be successful. It’s why so many rich kids chose to bum about – a privilege most of us don’t have admittedly, but that’s not “success” and isn’t relevant.
Where there is a divergence between classes, is on leadership skills I think. I’ve done quite well so far in my career, I got to about 70k base salary by 27 but at 32 now haven’t progressed as much as I’d like, or about 85 now so quite a flattening of growth. Consistent feedback has been that my communication skills, leadership abilities, need to mature so I can move to the next level and I’m still working on it. Basically, I’m unpolished. I have hard graft, get results, I manage my team well, I’m well respected, I hit my performance goals….but people don’t look at me and see a leader apparently, and I’m on courses now to rectify this. My background is not privileged, I’m insecure about myself and I got to a high level at a young age by just working my ass off and focussing on my knowledge acquisition and skills, I paid no time trying to “polish” myself and it worked for me. Now it’s my undoing.
Meanwhile, some privileged kids could easily have got to my position by age 27. Due to connections etc, what’s relatively an achievement for me would be easy for them. Due to its forgone nature, they have extra time and effort to spend “polishing” themselves. Then, they’re seen as leaders and that’s when they overtake people like me – who end up stuck in middle management.
This is why you end up with boys clubs and domination by elites. It’s not so much by design (maybe partially) as the difference in personality caused by “rising up” as opposed to “already being there, and polishing up”.
My father in laws a very successful man, and he is determined that I progress in my career. He’s really started drilling into me that what I know is no longer important – people know I know it, but the leadership everywhere are looking at how I come across – do I look and sound like a leader? In his own words – he has always been at the top, and when he looks at his staff he immediately decides if they’re a “general, or just a major”.
This is the real inequality
Damn everyone in these comments against hard work lol
Hard work usually leads to success but not necessarily upper echelons of society success. “Success” is a relative term really.
15 comments
Who is she? I’ve never heard of anyone being successful but not hard working. Pass.
Its one factor of many, including (but not exclusive to) intelligence, skills, experience, and luck. Unlike the rest, though, it’s also one of very few things you have direct control over.
I’d say Hardwork is usually a requirement for success (unless you’re born into it) but it certainly isn’t a guarantee of success, you can work hard and not be successful, but unless very lucky or privillaged you will not be successful unless you work hard.
Hard work is one of many factors needed for success. If you are hard working, you won’t necessarily be guaranteed success, but on the other hand if you are lazy and not hard working then the chances of success are almost zero.
I’m so tired of articles like this pushing bullshit narratives. Being successful is actually not that complicated and mostly down to hard work. Just do these things:
1) do your homework
2) listen in class at your £20k a year school
3) listen to your £90/hr private tutor
4) go to a Russel group uni
5) get some unpaid internships, family should help this
6) get a good job, pay for a job coach if you need to
7) use trust fund to buy your first house
See, ain’t that hard. People these days need to stop expecting handouts.
This is in essence the death of the American dream that Miller wrote about.
The idea that anyone, could, through hard work and application, rise to become “wealthy” – if it was ever true at all, it’s certainly no longer the case. The few exceptions are those lucky enough to be given an opportunity and intelligent/educated and supported sufficiently to take it.
By far the most certain route to wealth is of course to start with it.
How many times have you worked for a company, worked hard as well, been diligent, conscientious and seen other people promoted who didn’t put the work / effort in. They just happened to drink with a manager/ play football with a manager / say yes to everything etc etc.
If you don’t believe in free will, you’d likely agree with this.
[deleted]
Success is a person thing. If you’re clinically depressed, yet you get up in the morning and make yourself breakfast, that’s a success. If you’re money-driven, and you save enough to buy a house at a young age, that’s a success. Stop comparing yourself to other people’s, or society’s, ideas of success, it’s only going to make you feel worse that you didn’t do more.
Lot of people on this thread seem to be confusing success with wealth. Everybody’s definition is different and being wealthy is only a single facet of the success story.
I’m not wealthy by any means but as far as success goes I feel I have won at life. One of those major successes was not having to work hard for long periods of time.
Plenty of incompetents have fallen upwards, BoJo for example.
Hard work is the investment you make and it has a probability of paying off and making you successful and a probability of not paying off and all being for nothing.
If you don’t invest you won’t be successful, but to assume a 100% probability is wrong. In truth, most people work very hard and don’t end up rich and successful. But it’s a gamble, if you don’t invest that time you are guaranteed to not be successful so makes more sense to give it a try.
But people who say things like “hard work pays off” have confirmation bias. If you’re able to truly say that about yourself, then you’re fortunate.
Don’t really get into the debate about silver spoon etc though. Success is relative, it’s the % improvement in life relative to starting point. People born with privilege are still average in their world, they don’t know any different and the benchmark for thems a lot higher to be successful. It’s why so many rich kids chose to bum about – a privilege most of us don’t have admittedly, but that’s not “success” and isn’t relevant.
Where there is a divergence between classes, is on leadership skills I think. I’ve done quite well so far in my career, I got to about 70k base salary by 27 but at 32 now haven’t progressed as much as I’d like, or about 85 now so quite a flattening of growth. Consistent feedback has been that my communication skills, leadership abilities, need to mature so I can move to the next level and I’m still working on it. Basically, I’m unpolished. I have hard graft, get results, I manage my team well, I’m well respected, I hit my performance goals….but people don’t look at me and see a leader apparently, and I’m on courses now to rectify this. My background is not privileged, I’m insecure about myself and I got to a high level at a young age by just working my ass off and focussing on my knowledge acquisition and skills, I paid no time trying to “polish” myself and it worked for me. Now it’s my undoing.
Meanwhile, some privileged kids could easily have got to my position by age 27. Due to connections etc, what’s relatively an achievement for me would be easy for them. Due to its forgone nature, they have extra time and effort to spend “polishing” themselves. Then, they’re seen as leaders and that’s when they overtake people like me – who end up stuck in middle management.
This is why you end up with boys clubs and domination by elites. It’s not so much by design (maybe partially) as the difference in personality caused by “rising up” as opposed to “already being there, and polishing up”.
My father in laws a very successful man, and he is determined that I progress in my career. He’s really started drilling into me that what I know is no longer important – people know I know it, but the leadership everywhere are looking at how I come across – do I look and sound like a leader? In his own words – he has always been at the top, and when he looks at his staff he immediately decides if they’re a “general, or just a major”.
This is the real inequality
Damn everyone in these comments against hard work lol
Hard work usually leads to success but not necessarily upper echelons of society success. “Success” is a relative term really.