Work Hard & Work Smart

September 10, 2007 · Filed Under · 1 Comment 

Working HardGrowing up, I always remember people telling me, remember Kyle, “work smart, not hard.” I always thought that sounded like wise advice and kept those words buried shallow in my sub-conscious. Today, I am 33 years old and the father of three children and have a very different take on that advice. As my kids grow up I will be telling them to work hard AND work smart, for that is truly where their success in life and career will come from. Looking back, here is where the advice “work smart, not hard” got me.

Something for nothing. By thinking that working smart rather than hard was the way to go, guess what, I failed to work hard! Instead, I looked for the easy way out. This meant trying to scheme and finagle my way to a paycheck. It was not until I realized the value of hard work that the ‘other things’ fell into place. Other things being self-respect, happiness and to a lesser importance, money.

Somebody is watching. My wife reminds me all the time how our kids, especially our 5 year old son, watches and mimics everything I do. As he grows older he will be watching me and figuring out what kind of man he is going to be. I sure as heck don’t want him to see me not working hard to support our family. What kind of message is that giving him. I always have to keep in mind that the benefits of working hard does not stop at me.

Don’t forget to work smart. Now I am not saying that the best thing to do is work like a slave for minimum wage. For me, working smart starts way before you enter the workforce. The smartest thing you can do is get an education. An education gives you options, it allows you to follow your dreams. I cannot think of anything smarter than that. Combine the benefits of an education with hard work and the world is your oyster.

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One Response to “Work Hard & Work Smart”

  1. Mother Approves Blog » Archive » Carnival Of Family Life on September 17th, 2007 12:07 pm

    [...] C that Changes Everything (Live The Power) posted at LivethePower. (approve) Kyle James presents Work Hard & Work Smart posted at Rather-Be-Shopping.com Blog, saying, “As a Dad, remember to work hard because your [...]

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