Recently I was speaking with a young attorney who was lamenting the workload and hours the partners at his firm expected of him and talking about his time at night and on the weekends being his time, not theirs. This struck me because when I was a young attorney I expected to work hard and do whatever was asked of me as I learned a profession. I think that attitude and hard work taught me the profession of law and was part of the road to any professional success i have had. The point is I didn’t expect the it to be easy or to just fall backwards into success; I expected to put in time and energy investing in my potential future success.
When people see someone achieve success it may seem like it was overnight or not too hard. If that’s you, know there is no such thing as instant success or success without putting in hard work. If you’re not willing to do it, others will and they will achieve more than you and be promoted past you even when you have more experience. You’ll be left to wonder why and how it happened. If you’re good with that then keep on doing what you’re doing. If not, maybe you need to decide what it’s worth to you to do more. There is no shame in either path. It’s your choice to make.
If these thoughts sounds harsh, they are. As the title says, life isn’t easy. The road to success is paved with all types of impediments. Only you can choose which road to take when opportunity presents itself. Really, I’m talking about investing in yourself and making the choices that will give you the chance for success because working hard gives you the opportunity but not the guaranty of success. The reality check is that if you don’t work hard you definitely have no real chance for success.
I know some people may be thinking that their vision of success and mine differ greatly. Maybe or maybe not. My vision of success is doing a good job for whoever you work for, whether your employer or its clients or customers, to be able to earn a fair living that allows you to a decent lifestyle in the time you do spend away from work. There is a lot of room in that for all different types and levels of success.
The fact is life is a lot of ups and downs personally and professionally. Challenges come from every corner all the time. How you approach these challenges is up to you. Accepting that life is hard allows you to acknowledge there only is so much you can control and that includes your attitude, your mood, your reaction to and energy put towards those challenges, and what you’re willing to do to reach your version of success. So what are you willing to do to invest in yourself and your potential success?
