Hard Work, What Exactly Is It?

We experience it all the time- from motivational posters, sports crushes, and cliché movie lines, “Work Hard!” (Along with its partners, “Stay Positive!” and “Don’t Give Up!”) has gradually become one of the default phrases of advice for anyone pursuing after a dream or goal.

But if we were to peel away the surface level understanding of what hard work means, what would we find?

For some time now, I thought I fell into that category of a hard worker. I always nodded diligently when I was prescribed the “Work Hard!” advice and preceded to do my best to not be a failure in the expectations that I had set for myself.

However, during this past year and a half of mingling with entrepreneurial, techie nerds I couldn’t help but think that I was doing anything but the opposite of working hard. Standard 40-45 work weeks was a mere shadow of what these Silicon Valley Savants were juicing out of their 24 hour daily lives.

Which then raises the question -“Does hard work always equate out to x number of hours put in?” What if there’s more to that equation?

Questions needed to be asked. Perspectives needed to be introduced.

So, over the last week I sent out an email to a diverse group of individuals about what hard work meant to them. CEOs, teachers, therapists, and parents all responded with answers that would help mold and break down what I thought hard work meant.

And it turned out to be pretty simple equation:

(not my best Shepard Fairey creation, I know)

Let’s break down each component of this equation.

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