Nothing worthwhile comes easily. Half effort does not produce half results; it produces no results. Work, continuous work and hard work, is the only way to accomplish results that last.
—Hamilton Holt (Photo courtesy of Rollins Archives and Special Collections)
…There are, I believe, a couple of critical caveats to this quote. First and foremost, it is not just any “hard work” that produces results, it is focused work designed to bring your goals to fruition! That presupposes you have already outlined your goals and objectives.
Secondly, there is a big difference between “hard work” and drudgery. I always hated it when someone would feel obliged to throw out tired old maxims about hard work using negative connotations, as if you wouldn’t get anywhere unless you despised what you were doing to get there. Who says hard work has to be distasteful to be effective?
The real trick in life is uncovering what you are passionate about and keeping that passion burning bright through the better part of your long, focused days. After all, what good is it to reach our destination if we hated the journey?!
MSH