Nothing Works Like Hard Work: The Secrets Of A CEO ANYONE Can Replicate
Today I had a conversation with my uncle on the way home from work.
He told me,
“Son, Nothing Works Like Hard Work,
I don’t believe in magic or, luck.
There is one rule that will never fail you,
Nothing Works Like Hard Work.”
It’s not as if this advice was particularly nuanced or ground-breaking, but it’s a fact nonetheless.
One that we often overlook.
However, my uncle is the living, breathing, and walking epitome of that idiom.
He is the proof that Nothing Works Like Hard Work.
My Uncle wasn’t someone blessed with connections or fancy education whilst growing up.
He went to the worst of the worst.
In Zimbabwe, schools are graded from A-Z in terms of their status and capability.
And he joked that,
“his school was whatever was below Z.”
Yet, he got accepted and graduated from Harvard Business school from such humble beginnings.
It was nothing but the fruit of hard work.
And yes, he benefits from numerous connections now, but, guess what built those privileges?
Hard work.
Nothing more or less.
If you trace back most consistently successful individuals, bloodlines or, families — the turning point followed hard work.
At 40, he became the youngest Co-CEO, at the mining company he worked for, in the company’s history.
There has never been to this day, since 1954, an individual given that position younger or at 40 besides my uncle.
And he built the capability to do so, brick by brick.
He gained favour step by step.
He built connections step by step.
From quite literally nothing.
It’s the most obvious truth behind success, undeniably hard work.
Yet, we often overlook the importance in such simple truths.
I want you to consider something.
Do you think he was always working hard with the CEO position in mind?
Do you think he learnt his high-school curriculum months ahead, because he knew the specific doors that would open?
Do you think he knew where he was going at every turn?
Obviously not.
There was no secret formula.
No backdoor, no golden ticket or deception.
It was just him, and hard work.
Tackling every single opportunity in unison.
No matter how small or big.
Hard work.
That was the bottom line.
Why?
Because Nothing Works Like Hard Work.
There’s a good reason why nothing works like hard work.
Because it prevails in every season.
There’s a quote that I love by Jim Rohn,
“Don’t wish it was easier. Wish you were better.”
And I’ve wished so many times.
That I was better.
That I was more prepared.
That I had thought of the future.
That I had worked when I had time.
That I had taken up responsibility earlier and more seriously.
That I had invested earlier or saved sooner.
And there’s only one solution.
Prevent even having to wish that in the first place.
How, you might ask?
Get better.
That’s the way to prevail no matter the high or low.
When luck and chance appear, you’re ready — you’ve worked hard.
When disaster and chaos strike, you’re prepared — you’ve worked hard.
In every situation, whatever burden you have to carry, hard work will always make it easier.
Stop suffering for no reason.
Working hard because you didn’t work hard, isn’t hard work it’s idiocy.
So, rather than an idiom.
See it as a way of life.
To be truly successful, hard work cannot be treated as an option or a season.
Hard work is a constant.
It’s an occupation on infinite overtime.
It’s a life-long commitment.
So, pay your dues.
Work hard.
If you’re ever in doubt about where to start or which way to go.
Remember this:
In every situation.
Work hard.
When you’re at your lowest.
Work hard.
When you’re at your best work harder.
To a achieve a life overflowing with success, Nothing Works Like Hard Work.
LM
Thank you for reading!
American psychologist Alok Konojia, or ‘HealthyGamerGG’, says:
“The absence of reflection is the reason you’re stuck.”
To solidify our growth, let’s reflect:
Petrichor’s 1-Minute Reflection:
- How did you feel before reading?
- How did you feel whilst reading?
- Do you feel any different now that you’ve finished?
- What is your one takeaway from reading this?