I have been lucky enough to work since I was 15. Thanks to my upbringing, hard work was and is a natural thing to me. From a personal point of view, I have always tried to do my best no matter what work situation I find myself in. I might reference work quite a bit here, but substitute in whatever is your focus. It can be studies or sport even, the same principles will apply.
Over these years, I have also been lucky enough to work closely with literally hundreds of people. One thing always sticks out for me; those who worked hard have more often than not done quite well. Maybe not straight away, but over time, people who put in the effort have a far greater chance of being happy in their work life over those who ‘plod along’.
The world we live in today is a strange one; we are far away from everyone and everything, yet we have access at the tip of our fingers to more knowledge than ever before. Even though we have all this access to knowledge that may help improve our situations; there are still many things we allow to get in our way:
- the impact of social media.
- we like to blame others.
- fatigue can set in even though we are working hard.
- our mindset may not be right because of the above.
- we tend to look for sympathy, not motivation.
As we come out of Covid, we owe it to ourselves to re-evaluate and work towards things that give us a greater feeling of accomplishment. Read on to see how the above might be holding you back and how you can change this because nothing works unless you do!
The influence of social media.
Social media is an amazing tool. Too much social media is the problem. On Instagram, Snapchat and Tic Toc right now you can find people who influence your thoughts on:
- fitness.
- food.
- fashion.
- self help.
- music.
- how to ‘get rich quick’.
Passing the buck?
We love a good blame game. Things aren’t working out? The list of excuses is endless:
- it’s my parents fault.
- my teacher is no good.
- friends are a bad influence.
- I didn’t get the same chance as others.
- I was already told no.
- my boss doesn’t like me.
Calling these excuses doesn’t mean some of them may not be valid reasons. Life isn’t fair. Knowing this will help you understand that passing the buck and blaming other people or circumstances will do you no good in the long run.
Take responsibility for your own actions. Have a look at why something isn’t working, learn from your mistakes and try again. Passing the buck just doesn’t work.
But I am working hard...
This next point can be hard to accept. So many people work hard every day of their lives. Ask yourself these questions though:
- working hard, but are you working smart?
- how long have you been working hard?
- are you working harder than others?
- are you putting yourself out there?
We live in an age of ‘I want it now’ but getting what you want in your work life could take years, so prepare to battle. It took me over 5 years to reach a goal I had set out for myself in work.
Are others working harder than you? Your perception of hard work may be skewed, make sure it isn’t!
Lots of people say they work hard and get nothing in reward. If you are one of these people, you may be in the wrong environment. Put yourself out there, it’s very rare you get handed great opportunities, you need to hunt them down.
Mindset is key.
How you look at things in and around your life affects everything. My whole blog is focused on mindset and realistic positivity. If you get your mindset right, then you will fully understand that nothing works unless you do.
Entrepreneur Europe wrote an interesting article where they say:
”Mindset — a strong and positive one — is essential to developing healthy self-esteem. It is an important tool that affects our daily self-dialogue and reinforces our most intimate beliefs, attitudes and feelings about ourselves”.
Once you feel good about yourself and you have an understanding of your own value, obstacles will become much easier to overcome. A positive mindset will see you thrive off the idea that nothing works unless you do.
Look to others for motivation, not sympathy.
Unfortunately we love a good ‘poor me’ scenario. We all know it, something goes wrong and you want to speak to someone who will maybe feel sorry for you. Unfortunately someone feeling sorry for you isn’t going to get you to where you want to go!
Surround yourself with people who want to motivate you, not give you sympathy. Of course when things go wrong we all want to vent and let off steam, and that’s ok. When the time comes though, you want someone who will encourage you to go again, not someone who wants you to wallow in self pity.
People who motivate you might have success stories for you, or point out where you can improve. Sometimes people who offer sympathy will not provide you with the words you need to hear.
To conclude.
In todays society, there are so many distractions out there. Don’t get me wrong, everyone needs a good distraction every now and then, but only short term ones!
There have never been more opportunities for people, if only we can open our eyes to them. On the other hand, there have also never been more ways to avoid laying the ground work to improving our situation.
Watching all the influencers in the world won’t help. Inspirational quotes won’t work. Blaming others definitely won’t help you. If you can get your mindset right, work hard and look to others for motivation not sympathy, the journey will be worthwhile. Nothing works unless you do.
” don’t be upset with the results you didn’t get from the work you didn’t do”
Absolutely Agnes… what Albert Einstein said rings very true “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result”
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Great stuff Tom, you definitely call it as it is, getting the mindset right is so important for everything in life. You’ve inspired me to “do”!!!!
Thanks for the comment Bernie! Great to hear!! Mindset is the key for sure… it’s not always easy, but looking at something with the right frame of mind can be half the battle!
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