Working Hard on the Wrong Thing

In the quest for financial independence and subsistence, people work very hard! Many spend all waking hours working - with the hope that they would make a decent living and save some money for the "rainy" days (we all have them). Unfortunately, despite the hard work, a good number of people fail to meet their goals - after paying all the bills, they're left with little or nothing. Can you relate to this? You would agree that there're people who work 40 - 45 hours a week, but live a life of struggle. No doubt, these are genuinely hard working folks - they set out for work at dawn and return home at dust, exhausted and not looking forward to the next day. I have talked with many people - people with unimaginable work schedules. They literally do nothing but work, yet I can't help but ask myself why they're not doing better (financially) - despite all the donkey work. Is hard work overrated? Is it possible to be working hard on the wrong thing?

Make no mistake - it's absolutely important to work hard to achieve your goals. But finding the right thing to work hard on, is much more important than working hard. You might spend many years working hard on something which is not designed to yield the ambitious results you expect. No doubt, you'd stagnate until you figure out what is designed to take you where you want to go. To illustrate this, you might have a goal to make 70,000 EUR (approximately $95,000) this year. This is doable, but working EXTREMELY hard - 24 hours a day, on a job designed to pay, 20,000 EUR (approximately $27,000) a year, would not make your dream come true. Believe it or not! They say it's mathematically impossible!

What you want to do is, find something that is designed to take you where you want to go and embark on it. A passenger plane (let's say, a Boeing 747) can't take you to the moon, can it?

Are you surprised you're not making any progress, despite all the hard work? Well, you don't have to be, because I got news for you - you're working hard on the wrong thing! You won't make any progress until you figure out the right thing to work hard on. How do you find the right thing to work hard on?

Don't spend too much time working hard on the wrong thing. Afterall, there's evidence pointing to the fact that it's counterproductive! Set aside time, each day - to reflect on what you really want and perhaps, find yourself a Coach or a Mentor (who has been there, done that) and follow in his/her footsteps.

Above all, watch your Associations - you've probably heard the adage, which states, "it's difficult to soar with the eagles when you're scratching with the turkeys." It's true! Associate with people who've been where you want to go or who're on the way to your "dreamland." In simple terms - if you want to get a menial job, hang out with people in the "industry". In the same vein, if you want to be a lawyer, doctor, teacher, entrepreneur - you know what to do. The bottomline is, hang out with the right people! It might take some time, but with a change in mindset, you'd eventually find the right thing to work hard on.

What's my point? Well, finding the right thing to work hard on is more important than working hard. I'd rather work smart!

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