Working Hard Isn’t Enough: The Unspoken Step After Hard Work
Great, you’ve been working hard.
You’ve made some progress.
You’ve been consistent and patient.
You’ve poured over and over and over.
So, why isn’t your cup full?
Why haven’t you achieved what you aimed for?
Why couldn’t you perform when you needed to?
Why did it feel like it wasn’t enough?
Was it all a waste?
Well, what if it was just misplaced?
What if you were working hard enough but in the wrong place?
What if there is a step beyond hard work?
Currently, I’m in exam season.
Yes, I’ve worked hard throughout the year.
Could I have worked harder?
Definitely.
But I’ve worked hard nonetheless.
Yet, whilst facing my exams, it doesn’t feel effortless.
It feels like a constant uphill battle.
Surely my preparation should’ve amounted to something?
I racked my brain?
Could I have been more efficient?
Sacrificed more?
Invested more time?
What was I missing?
Surely, I shouldn’t have to give up everything just to succeed?
Surely there’s a missing piece somewhere I haven’t gone yet?
What’s the next step after hard work?
The answer came to me later, whilst I tussled with comfortability.
(To read about the internal dialogue that birthed this revelation click here)
For me, the barrier to going to the gym was comfortability.
I had become accustomed to acting within a realm of comfortability.
That’s why it was so hard to step out of it.
That’s why it was so hard to go to the gym.
But if the gym, a place I attend 5x a week, was uncomfortable for me…
What about everything else?
What if I had constantly been working in the realm of comfortability?
What if I had been working hard within the confines of comfort the whole time?
Is that even hard work at all?
Olympic long-distance runner Emil Zátopek, the only runner to win gold at the 5000m, 10,000m, and marathon at the same Olympic games, said:
“There is a great advantage in training under unfavourable conditions. It is better to train under bad conditions, for the difference is then a tremendous relief in a race.”
This whole time, I had been doing the opposite.
I had worked within the realm of comfortability for so long, that I had deceived myself into believing I was hitting the upper limit in terms of effort.
When, in fact, I was hitting the upper limit of my comfortability.
No wonder, I felt absolutely no relief when it came to my exams.
When I started my race, it still felt like an uphill battle.
I had been training under favourable conditions, and I surely felt the difference.
The starting point, should be the upper limit of your comfortability.
Every time you train, practice, revise, or attempt to grow, you must step into the realm of discomfort.
Then remain there.
Keep working upward from that place.
Why?
Because you’ll have to face discomfort regardless.
Either face it now.
When you have time.
In training.
In your day-to-day.
And feel relief whilst you’re in the ring.
Or,
Face it later.
When the stakes are highest.
When success is a necessity.
When a mistake could cost you everything.
And feel grief whilst you’re in the ring.
I’m facing the consequences of the second option now.
And I hate it.
I’ve made this exceedingly harder for myself.
Learn from my failures.
Don’t just work hard, take the next step.
Constantly work where you feel uncomfortable, especially where it’s easiest to be comfortable.
The more inclined you are to comfort, the harder you should reject it.
Comfort is like home.
It is not a place that can stretch you.
It is not a place where you can grow significantly.
It is not a place that can prepare you for future discomfort.
Working Hard Isn’t Enough.
Working hard in discomfort is the unspoken step beyond hard work.
LM