[January 24, 2021] As a junior military officer, I put in some long hours getting my Soldiers ready for the day we would be called into combat. It was hard work. At least I thought it was hard work. Guess what? I did not know what it meant.
We are told that “the early bird gets the worm,” just “apply some elbow grease,” and that “the American Dream is made of hard-working folks. We are told that if we apply ourselves, we can overcome any obstacle. We believe that success will come for those that put in the extra time and effort. But is that really true?
What is routine work?
Most of us believe that we are hard workers. Yes, we think so … I certainly do. We go to school, get good grades, get jobs and do our best, keep our house tidy, pay our bills, and end the day are tired out. No surprise here. But is this hard work? No, this is routine, day-to-day work, not hard work.
What we do every day by putting in our time and energy is regular work. Yes, it isn’t easy. That is why I thought my days as a junior military officer was hard work. I did all those things my Commander required of me. I did all those things around my house that my wife wanted doing and took the kids places for fun. Work is what we do and what every other human being does so to survive.
What is hard work?
Hard work is what we do beyond regular work. Hard work is doing what is necessary to achieve a much higher goal. It involves being brutally honest with ourselves, making difficult sacrifices, and dealing with the world’s chaos and uncertainty.
To achieve a higher goal, one must have the motivation, discipline, and willingness to sacrifice to achieve excellence.
- Hard work is the school football player who works out physically more than his coach requires, exercising early in the day and on weekends and studying the plays over and over.
- Hard work is the Army Lieutenant who helps his men wash unit vehicles after a long training event instead of sitting back with his officer buddies drinking coffee.
- Hard work is the Math major who solves every calculus problem at the end of each chapter instead of the first five like his professor assigned.
- Hard work is father who takes his kids to the amusement park, goes on every ride with them, buys them lunch, and makes sure they have everything they need while there instead of sitting on the bench and watching them.
It takes grit to go that extra distance, the attitude to do well, and the motivation. Hard work is doing more than the minimum to get by.
For those that have done hard work, it is never truly over. You now know that it is crucial to your journey as a leader. Hard work becomes a lifestyle that only a few of us have ever managed to engage.
This is, certainly, what it takes. But Gen. Satterfield has added to my understanding of what hard work is, and what it is not. What it is, is going beyond the requirements and achieving more, much more.
Everyone should read this article. More should actually do hard work.
HARD WORK is for me. No other way to achieve satisfaction in life. For the weenies who think the way to greatness is thru a handout, I have nothing to say except you are totally delusional. Of course, that is what we are seeing more and more of these kinda nuts. Universities are cranking them out over and over.
Little children in college today would not know hard work if it bit them on the arse.
Sooo right!!!! 👍
Ha Ha Ha…. great comment. Made me think!!! 😊
Enjoyed your look at hard work, Gen. Satterfield. I recommend that you take a topic like the US Army where you were and apply this theme to it. What were the differences in your early jobs and later jobs where you applied this idea? Just a thought of mine. Thanks for your daily dose of leadership.
Routine vs. Hard Work. Now that is so obvious. But I guess that some people need it explained to them. I would guess that most of those reading Gen. Satterfield’s blog are pretty smart to begin with. Those who most need to read it are still in bed sleeping.
Last night, my son told me about a Bose earplug advertisement that was made him want to buy some. I saw it later on YouTube after looking it up and thought, “why are those people in bed in the daylight?” They must be lazy, I thought to myself. That is how hard working people think.
I like your list of hard work examples. They are about going just a little beyond the required, but that is a start.
Here is an example of an article from LinkedIn where the author of the article doesn’t get it:
“What Does Hard Work Really Mean?”
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140909140856-15673390-what-does-hard-work-really-mean
LinkedIn is a crappy website anyway. Most of the stuff on their is made up out of thin air. I know 20 people or so that have their profiles listed there and most of what they have is fake. Just like our news media that is “fake news”, people make up sh** to put on their CV.
Ha Ha, how very true, Gil. You made my day with your comment.
👍👍👍👍
Good article. Certainly adds to the basic knowledge that our young individuals growing up today need to hear, but will not hear, of course.
Thanks Gen. Satterfield for this article on hard work. It is the cornerstone of America’s greatness. Those who are given incentives to excel, will do so (some of them will anyway). In most societies, people are not interested in excelling. Which are these? All those are communist or socialist countries that have no real interest in the people but in the power for the few. The powerful just mouth good words, mostly blaming capitalism or racism for their people not doing well, when in truth it is the victimization culture of Marxism and other Progressive ideologies that enhance the downtrodden to stay exactly where they are. Ha Ha. And they don’t even know it.
“If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got.” ― Albert Einstein
Even the smart guy figure this out long ago. 😊
Good comment again Max. I only wish more people understood hard work.
With the up and coming college snowflake generation about to enter the workforce, I have little hope for any of them really understanding hard work. And it goes beyond attitude because now employers are adapting to these incoming weak men and women (mostly pantiwasited twits).
Going above and beyond what is required. That is hard work. That is why we Americans and most people like to watch sports and are fascinated by those who accomplish great achievements.
That is why we love sports and politics.
https://apnews.com/hub/sports
https://apnews.com/hub/politics
Thanks for the links. Yes, every newspaper has a politics and sports section. But they also have a comics section as well. How do we explain that? Humor pays. Maybe that is the answer but I like to think that people are drawn to positive things too.
Ahhh you jest but they are “fake news.”
Oh yes, hard work is “hard” for that very reason. Great time to discuss the meaning of hard work because most folks have no idea what it is.