Hard Work and Success

Most of the autobiographies or biographies about some of the most successful people in the world have one thing in common: their success is mostly a product of hard work rather than anything else. Yes, they may be smarter than the ordinary people out in the streets; they might have been intelligent and innovative in ways that probably changed the way that the world works or how we live and work. However, the most common factor is that they always worked real hard to become successful.

Some of them work extraordinary long hours daily to accomplish their objectives. In Riz Khan's biography of the Saudi businessman Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal titled Businessman, Billionaire, Prince the businessman revealed that he sleeps for only about four hours every night. You might imagine what he does with his remaining twenty hours: work! Yes, he basically works for twenty hours in every twenty-four. He spends most of the night researching on investments and working across multiple time zones in making and managing investments around the globe. Little wonder that he is today one of the wealthiest people in the world.

It is the same case with Aliko Dangote, the wealthiest African and black man in the world, who also once revealed that he never sleeps before past midnight- despite being behind his desk as early as 7 a.m daily. The result is that his empire now spans across most of Africa with amazing financial success. The giant Dangote Group with its flagship Dangote Cement Plc is a cumulative result of his hard work and sleepless nights.

This relationship between hard work and success is not exclusive to those in the business world. It spans all areas of life. Think of all the great works of literature out there and how they came about. Those authors must have spent a great deal of their time writing and rewriting before each masterpiece was created. It's the same story with super athletes, they sometimes train all their lives before succeeding. In fact, it is said that a Grand Slam winner in Tennis has to start holding a tennis racket from less than five years old. They would then stick to a strict regimen of training as they grow up. This is what has produced must of the successful people in sports.

Thinking about all this made me do a little soul-searching about myself. I asked myself how hard do I work towards achieving my dreams. The answer was scary: I don't work real hard. I sometimes work so little that I'm ashamed of even stating the number of hours. Yet, my dreams are real big. Ask yourself the same question and see if you are realistically working towards achieving your goals. Having a dream is one thing while working hard to attain it is entirely another.

The most successful people are those that match their dreams and aspirations with the hard work and the commitment required to bring them success. It is the only way if one wants to succeed. Yes, a little luck here and there also plays a part in making it but the most important thing is hard work. This is why I'm changing the way I work. My time will be spent the way the successful spend theirs: in a way to achieve in a day what others would take a month to accomplish.