WORK SMART AT WORKING HARD

When I was a kid I did what I could to not work hard or even work at all. When Mom would tell me on a Saturday morning I had to go to the basement and sweep I would remind her that the allergy doctor said I was allergic to household dust. Therefore, in my mind, the logical thing to do was stay right where I was, watching Saturday morning TV on our 19 inch television. Needless to say I had to go work at cleaning my room. If I knew in time work was coming my way I hit the woods before the list of chores was handed down. Perhaps every kid has this aversion to work and why we always got mad at those “slave driving” parents of ours. Although I hated it, I remember hearing, “Things worth having are worth working for” and “If you have to work for it you will appreciate it more.” So in my family, in my wheelhouse of experiences, hard work was a great practice to exhibit. Through hard work you can get what you want and your needs are met. However all the hard working people I knew were just as poor (lower middle class sometimes) as we were. Happy, it seemed, but still poor.

As I grew the phrase, “Work smart, not hard” resonated with me because, well first off I hated hard work. But what appealed to me was it was being said by seemingly rich people. CEOs, entertainers, and well to do business executives driving nice cars living in big houses. That is what I want. I want the big house on the lake or ocean. I want the new truck and car and boat and well you get the picture. So I determined I need to develop my mind. Become smart and not have to work hard. Plans were developed. Short term as well as long term goals were listed. Books were read and sacrifices made all in the effort of working smart and not hard. Riches had to be right around the corner, right? Nope, I still had to budget. Watch my pennies (yes pennies not dollars).

Then it dawned on me, phrases like those mentioned above aren’t just clichés, they have stood the test of time for a reason. The reason is this, they go together. What I have realized is you have to work both smart and hard in order to achieve success of any kind. When you look at the areas in the lives of successful people they have been smart about the hard work they have done. They stay determined to move forward and focused on what they want to achieve then work hard at it. Plans are developed, relationships are made and meetings are strategically made all in an effort to achieve their goals set. Intelligently working hard.

I think working smart encompasses the idea of knowing when to punch the clock to go home for the evening. As a comedian I always have an “eye open” looking for a new joke premise and I would imagine successful business people are the same way. In today’s world it seems 24/7 work week is the way to go in order to get ahead then never enjoying it once you’re there. Worse yet, missing out on what is all around you now. Such a heavy effort of “working smart not hard” may not be that smart at all. We are not designed to work like that without sustaining a long term negative effects. Our burn out often sets in, relationships suffer or just end, and our bodies just wear out, even die prematurely. Working smart means knowing when to take that break to go fishing or to the kids little league game.

Let’s promote a new phrase in our pursuit of success. Let’s all work smart at working hard. In doing so our 24/7 lives will be balanced and we will be much happier.