The Truth About Hard Work

“Without labor nothing prospers.” –Sophocles 

There are no shortcuts to any achievement. That’s why you never see laziness or inefficiency rewarded or respected. No one simply wakes up in the morning, decides to be successful and then achieves it through the power of thought alone. Truly successful individuals have put in hard work, and the results followed.

In the words of Sophocles, “Without labor nothing prospers.” There’s a reason Sophocles is such a renowned ancient philosopher—he’s right. Hard work speaks volumes on your abilities and, more importantly, your character.

Take the beginning of a semester of school. From the starting line, a majority of students say they’re going to get all A’s and boost their GPA. While goals are useful starting points, no student is going to achieve A’s if he or she doesn’t put in the work. If someone wants an A badly enough, they must to go to class, keep up with the readings, pay attention, take notes, ask questions and study in advance for exams. Only then will their dreams become realities in the grade book.

Mizzou Football knows what hard work feels like on the body and the mind, and they also know the results of putting forth full effort.

Here are nine truths about hard work, both on and off the field:

  1. Talent alone is no assurance of success. The only way to reach the top in athletics is through long hours of hard work.
  2. If you work hard enough, you can accomplish more because your competition won’t be as stiff. There are few athletes who are willing to put forth an all-out effort to achieve success.
  3. Man’s greatest hour is the moment in which he has worked his heart out and lies exhausted, but has been victorious on the field of battle.
  4. Every day you fail to practice, you miss an opportunity for improvement.
  5. Practice the things you cannot do three times longer than the things you can easily do. Convert your weaknesses into strong points.
  6. There may be areas that in which your opponent has an advantage over you, but he should never be in better condition than you.
  7. The only way to get in good condition is to never get out of it.
  8. Anything you do that will harm your body is going to reduce your physical condition and cut down your chances for success.

There will be days when just the thought of hard work is exhausting. In those moments, remember these words of encouragement:

Belief sets up the conditions that make success, health, and happiness possible.

To turn potential into reality, you must do something about it.

When you do things you have to do when you have to do them, the day will come when you can do the things you want to do when you want to do them.

Work is the foundation of all success, the source of all prosperity and the parent of genius. It is the salt that gives life its savor, but it must be loved before it can bestow its greatest blessing and achieve its greatest ends. When loved, work makes life sweet, purposeful, and fruitful.