Even the Best Work Hard; Are You?
A friend was complaining about how he wasn’t earning enough money. But before I automatically suggested picking up some freelance commitments to improve his bottom line, I sensed that he was actually interested in working less to earn more.
Perhaps he was “inspired” by the example of those who seem to make everything they do look easy. Or, the office manager who apparently does nothing except for delegate tasks and give orders.
But I know for the fact that the said manager works hard to keep his group in good order. In fact, if he didn’t delegate as much as he did, he’d have more workload to shoulder, aside from formulating the plans, dealing with personnel issues, and selling his subordinates’ initiatives to upper management. And don’t get me started on how he survives the office politics game.
And what about the greats who seemingly achieve effortlessly? That’s a result of having sound fundamentals developed by years of hard work. As Wishful Thinking’s Time Management ebook quotes:
The film Amadeus dramatizes and romanticizes the divine origins of creative genius. Antonio Salieri, representing the talented hack, is cursed to live in the time of Mozart, the gifted and undisciplined genius who writes as though touched by the hand of God… Of course this is hogwash. There are no ‘natural’ geniuses… No-one worked harder than Mozart. By the time he was twenty-eight years old, his hands were deformed because of all the hours he had spent practicing, performing, and gripping a quill pen to compose… As Mozart himself wrote to a friend, “People err who think my art comes easily to me. I assure you, dear friend, nobody has devoted so much time and thought to composition as I. There is not a famous master whose music I have not industriously studied through many times.”
In short, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. It’s of course crucial that freelancers and contract workers learn to work smart, but nothing will replace the commitment and dedication signified by a willingness to work hard.
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POSTED IN: Lazy Sunday Reading, Ramblings of a Freelancer
2 opinions for Even the Best Work Hard; Are You?
Vyoma
Dec 16, 2007 at 1:59 pm
I cannot speak for the ‘greats’ and the ‘legendaries’. :) But I know, that is the only way one can find success - by working hard.
Sean Hodge
Dec 16, 2007 at 3:08 pm
It helps when you like the work you do. I do graphic design and web design and I love it. When I’m not working on client projects I’m working on my own.
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