#11 Work Hard, Not Smart

Yeah, you read that right. We always talk about how good it is to work smarter than harder, but what if we tried to do the opposite? I think there’s something valuable about being willing to put in the effort, even if you may not have to. It isn’t the easy route, but I think it has its merits. Let me explain. 

There’s something to be said for the one who loves to work like a dog, even if just for its own sake. I remember as a kid, being inspired by the final act of the movie “Bruce Almighty,” where Morgan Freeman, playing God, delivers this beautiful line:

“There’s nothing wrong with a little good ol’ manual labor. Some of the holiest people come home smelling to high heavens at the end of the day. Honestly, there’s freedom in it.”

That line has always stuck with me for some reason. Maybe it’s because I have found it to be true for myself. I have never minded the manual labor work that I have had to do. Heck, I have even enjoyed it sometimes. Getting in the zone and tuning out as I put away freshly cleaned forks, or sweeping the halls for the thousandth time. It’s pretty relaxing, honestly. But everyone else seems to act like it’s a nightmare, or that they are above doing such grimy, dirty work. It’s sad to me.

And this attitude makes a difference as you climb the ladder. Which boss would you rather have: the one that sits in his office barking orders all day, or the one that has done it all, that still loves doing it all and is willing to jump in to work alongside you if that’s where they’re needed? I think the choice is pretty obvious. There’s something about that person that’s compelling, even inspiring. You want to follow them because you’re following one of your own. They’re personally invested in how everything goes and it shows. This attitude could make you that kind of person, if you take the time to make yourself willing to put in the hard work. 

And then, there’s something else to think about. Imagine if you made a hard worker and a smart worker pair up for a project. They’d be unstoppable! What I am ultimately pointing to is balance. The problem is that we are too attached to the idea of being able to be lazy. Doing less seems like a lot of fun, so it’s all too easy to make everything run itself, right? If working smart is like sharpening the knife, working hard is like stubbornly hacking something with the same dull blade until something gets cut. But if you had an ultra-sharp blade in an ultra-stubborn hand, imagine how much you could accomplish! 

So take some time to commit to working hard. Don’t hurt yourself, but learn how to get stubborn and to never quit. Master this skill for a while, then slowly start bringing your brain back into the mix. Evaluate how you do things while you do them. Go crazy with no lazy. Talk to lazy people and see how they do things, then act like that, but with ten times their ferocity. 

I pray that you can learn to develop the heart of the brute and the mind of a bum. That you learn how to bring the two together in a union that shines brighter than the sun.

Until Next Time

May Peace be your Guide.