The difference between hard work versus smart work is based on how I approach my task. Hard work would mean spending long hours to complete my work without any shortcuts. Smart work would be aiming for the same results but with planning and prioritization of tasks.
Elon Musk says that you should work 80 to 100 hours a week, because then in four months, you’ll cover what it takes 40 hours a week person one year. So this Blog is about hard work versus smart work. Kind of what? What are the thoughts about these two?
And I have some stories about this. Whenever I ask candidates, and I say, hey, how hard you work? And they answer me, Hey, I work smart. I instantly know the answer. I know that they’re not hard working. And they’ve usually actually always, they don’t have much.
This has held for me for the past ten years, meaning I have yet to meet a person who tells me Hey, I work smart, and they make a lot of money. This hasn’t happened to me in ten years. So I want to go over seven people. And if this strategy holds, how does this apply to them?
So for example, the CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, starts his day at 4.30 am, and he’s the first person at the office and the last to leave. You don’t think Tim works hard and smart? Because that’s the argument, right? The argument they’ll say to that is, Hey, I work smart. I don’t need to work hard.
Well, how about Tim Cook? Do you think he’s working from 4.30 am? in the office? Lastly, because he doesn’t also work smart and hard. How about Mark Cuban? Who said he didn’t take a vacation? For seven years? You don’t think he worked smart? Just process this? Like, don’t think he works smart? and hard? Of course, he did.
How about Jeff Bezos, how in the early days of Amazon, they said it was 12 hour days, seven days a week and they will work until 3 am shipping books, the richest man in the world now, don’t you think he also works smart and hard. So the process all these guys that frequently interview who tell me this, hey, I work smart. Like it’s crazy. It’s the most insane thing in the world.
So here we go. The fourth person, Venus and Serena Williams wake up at 6 am? hitting tennis balls when they were seven and eight years old. Seven years old, don’t you think they will work and smart and hard?
How about a fifth person, Phil Jackson. He’s the coach of the Lakers. And he was the coach of the Chicago Bulls. And he said this about Michael Jordan. He said, hard work is what made Michael Jordan a legend, don’t you the Michael also worked hard and smart.
Now about Marissa Mayer, person number six. She is the CEO. She was the CEO of Yahoo. And she was a Google employee. Number four, I believe she was the fourth person to ever join Google how she put in 130 hours per week at Google process that, don’t you think she also worked smart? Like? Don’t you think Marissa Mayer works smart man and hard like point number seven?
My last person that we’ll cover here is GE CEO, Jeffrey Immelt. He worked 100 hours per week for 24 years. as CEO of GE, we all know GE, think about your light bulb worked 100 hours a week for 24 years now, don’t you think Jeff worked smart? Or you think he was just a crazy lunatic not knowing what he was doing? Right?
Summary of the Blog Hard work vs Smart Work
So next time you meet a person who you ask, Hey, how hard you work? And they say, Well, I work smart. You should already know what to think about that person. He doesn’t work hard. And he doesn’t work smart and probably not that smart. Because why would all these super-intelligent, super successful people all work extremely hard and smart.
But this guy like, it frustrates me that people say this, you know, the right answer to this question is the right answer is I’ll do whatever it takes to achieve my objective for the company. And I’ll work as hard as I have to achieve it. That’s the right answer you can throw in there and I also work smart.
Let’s see relevant, right like so I want you to remember Marissa Mayer’s work ethic. I want you to remember Apple, Tim Cook’s work ethic, the CEO of G E work ethic as you’re thinking about this, and the answer you should always seek is Hey, I’ll do whatever it takes to make this business successful and take it to the next level.
And let’s end this with a quote from Thomas Edison. And Thomas Edison said the reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is that it’s because of usually goes around wearing overalls and looking like hard work. That’s crazy.
Thanks for reading, And I will see you in the next Blog.
