“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” - Aristotle
“If people knew how hard I had to work to gain my mastery, it would not seem so wonderful at all.” - Michelangelo Buonarroti.
Ancient gurus always attributed a great deal of importance to hard-work. Although it has constantly been deemed as out of fashion in 21st century, every successful person out there even today pays homage to hard-work.
(And before we get too deep into this, let me clarify, when I say hard-work, I also mean smart-work. In my world, it’s one and the same, has always been the same. Basically, accomplish a task in the best way possible. Smart-work does not advertise dishonesty or using shortcuts that impact quality. Some over zealous pundit in the 1930s wanted to make an impression and created this difference between the two, making hard-work look like a negative trait.
To spell it out, if you are genuine at your work, you are putting your heart and mind into that task, you will always find creative and effective ways to accomplish it, which the new world tries to distinguish as smart-work; but since ancient times hard-work has been an umbrella term that also defines logical and thoughtful execution of task at hand.)
I grew up in an environment where hard-work was a way of life. Bhagavad Gita’s famous quote below was embedded in every small or big task we did.
“कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन । मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भुर्मा ते संङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ॥ .
Transliteration- karmaṇyevādhikāraste mā phaleṣu kadācana mā karmaphalaheturbhurmā te saṃṅgo'stvakarmaṇi .
You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Let not the fruits of action be your motive, nor let your attachment be to inaction.
Hold on, before you start condemning this, pause and take a step back.
Like you, I questioned this too when I started my professional career. I would have these conversations with my dad, “..wouldn’t it undermine the very reason we are working so hard for. If I am not recognized and not rewarded for my hard-work, then what’s the point of it at all.” And hence began the journey of understanding the true meaning of this verse.
In summary, if you are working with a reward in your mind, you are doing it for external elements instead of objectively working on the task for yourself. For me, it kind of embodies the sentiment of quotes like - be in the moment, journey over destination etc. (I know, I know, it’s still debatable. Let’s keep that discussion for another time)
So, both me and my sister, grew up embracing this principle in every single task we do. Whether it’s a daily chore of cleaning our house or an important delivery at work. We do our work not for someone else but for ourselves. We are perfectionists not because we are seeking validation from anyone else whether in the form of verbal or monetary appreciation, but for our own soul.
We excelled in academics, at workplace and in general life. We are respected by people from different walks of life. And a huge part of it goes towards a simple principle of doing our absolute best. We never once cheated at our studies because things were difficult or at our profession because we weren’t paid enough. I am sure, this is true for most of you as well.
Today however, vast majority of people have this entitled and tik-tok mindset. Like A) they should never be working this hard, it’s against whatever rights they advocate, basically nothing should be difficult or tedious; B) by working hard in school or college they are doing a favour to their parents. Or by just showing up to work they are doing a favour towards their employers. I have heard this numerous times by folks at work, “For the peanuts they pay, they should be grateful that I am showing up to work at all.”
I met a 70ish year old lady couple of weeks back working in the Fitting rooms section of Marshalls. Most folks I have seen attending these rooms do their jobs quite half-heartedly; forget greeting, they won’t even look at who is walking in, they just boringly count the items and wave customers in or out, just doing what’s bare minimum. However, she was greeting everyone very professionally, guiding every one with same rigour and thanking them with the same cheer. She wasn’t unnecessarily chatty or casual, but she was what you would call an embodiment of customer service ethics. Now, you might say, of course, she is old, she has nothing better to do, so she can afford to be all perky. I disagree. She can choose to be grumpy and broody, choose to just stack clothes on the rack without putting in an effort like almost every other staff does these days. Instead, she chose to do her work genuinely. That’s the beauty of hard-work. I complimented her saying not many have her ethics these days and I will remember her whenever my Mondays get tough.
If you think you are worth more than what you are being paid, then fight for a raise or quit and find another option with a suitable pay. If you think you should be doing something else instead of being stuck in a boring job, quit and do whatever that something else is. But if you are accepting money or benefits from someone to do a certain job, you don’t get to cheat at that job. It’s a simple equation.
But the audacity of people these days is just astounding. Look at all the apps you have.
- Learn Guitar in 15 days!
- Loose weight in 30 days!
- Get fit in 1 month!
- Run a marathon in 6 weeks!
- Climb Mt Everest without extensive training!
- Learn photography in 7 days!
We all are running towards these quick to-go boxes of packaged success. Whenever I see these posts, the first thing that comes to my mind is - but that’s a sham.
I am not saying spending years on something, one will definitely excel at it. No. My point is, if I really want to learn something, I should be willing to put in the dedication it requires. If the first thing I do is find shortcuts, then I have lost the battle even before it began.
If I think one can learn guitar in 15 days, then I am discounting the effort of all the struggling musicians who have invested their entire life in it. It’s annoying when people don’t respect a profession because they are oblivious to everything that goes into it.
When I trekked Everest Base Camp solo, I carried my own backpack and did it without a guide or porter. My reasoning was simple. I wanted to see Mt Everest. And I was going to work for it. I wasn’t going to hire porters to lug my stuff or mules to haul me up the mountains or guide to help me navigate; I was going to do it myself. And if I cannot do it, then I don’t deserve to see Mt Everest and I will make my peace with that. Might not be my best example, but you get the gist. (And yes, there were people on mules on the trail, and yes, I think they don’t deserve to be there no matter what sob story they have in their pocket. )
I dislike the guts of people who think they are entitled to things around them, even though they are not willing to put in their effort. My dad, my uncles, most the older generation I see at work - all of them (whether employed or self employed) worked with the same dedication up until the day of their retirement. Never once they complained or said it was beneath them to put in a honest day’s work.
Back in my hometown a very popular analogy to success were restaurant owners. They always said, to be a successful restaurant owner, you should start as a cleaner in the restaurant, work your way up the ladder from cleaning to waitressing to cooking to managing; that’s when you will truly succeed. And even if it was a family owned restaurant, the son had to work up the ladder before he took the reins from his father.
Tell that to anyone today! Oh boy. Nepotism is the new way of life.
The secret to a successful generation vs a mediocre one lies in the understanding of one thumb rule - the road to success is drenched in blood and sweat.
If you want to play guitar like in Hotel California, it will take practice.
If you want to swim like Phelps, it will take practice.
If you want to paint like Monet or Van Eyck, it will take practice.
If you want to be a physicist like Einstein, it will take practice.
No matter what the field is, when someone goes that extra mile, they will shine. And above all, it’s the contentment that it brings along. Again, don’t confuse this with work-life imbalance or just keep toiling; it's just “when you are doing something, give it your genuine effort”; it can be your professional or your personal life.
Hard-work is a synonym for humbleness, discipline, patience, dedication, mindfulness and honesty. When you put in that kind of effort, you will not only appreciate the results but you are also be compassionate to others ahead or behind you in that journey. Most importantly you will be able to identify and respect genuinely experienced individuals, and trust me they are becoming a rare species as the generations roll.
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