52 – The Harder I Work, The Luckier I Get

BY STAN KONTOS

Whilst I am a big advocate on leading a balanced life, there are times when we need to work hard. If you own your own business or you manage a business, you know there are times when you need to “roll up your sleeves”, put your head down and take on the business growth, or solve an issue or cover for staff who are away. There are times when high achievers have to put in the long hours to get the job done. However, what is important, is realising that leading a balanced life is realising when you are out of balance and gradually bringing yourself back to normality.

I am also an advocate on “doing whatever it takes” (of course within guidelines of best practice) to get the result. This will involve at times putting in extra hours and working hard. What I have learnt though is that when I work hard, I get lucky. As long as I have my “day of sabbath” (a full day of rest, prayer and reflection), I can go hard for six days. This high intensity brings me great results. All people who succeed in life (whether it be in a career, a business, a charity, a giving program, or a stay home parent running a family) always have and always will have times where they need to work hard.

During these periods of hard work, I am always thinking of the result I want to achieve and who I can handover some of the workload so that I can get back into a more balanced life. So it also becomes a period of hiring the right person, training them up, setting up good systems and KPI’s and then delegating/empowering the right person so I can eventually exit that role and take on other roles which I enjoy more and create more value in.

If there is something you want to do well in (for example, develop or invest in real estate, or invest in the sharemarket, or learn a new language, or become good at a new team sport) then there is no substitute for hard work – the more I practice, the more skilled I get. The more skilled I become, the more I do well. Hard work is and has always been at the corner stone of all great achievements. Of course many of us know, that when we take on something and we learn to love it, it does not seem like hard work anymore – it is a joy!

I encourage you to begin today thinking about what you would like to excel in and then design to put in some extra hours to develop your skills and capabilities. You will be surprised what will happen during a short intense period of hard work – you will have mastered a skill for the rest of your life. You will then be in a position to teach others so you can leverage out of that position or create other high performing individuals in your organisation, family or team. Great leaders are teachers who have been there and done it before.

I look forward to hearing your story one day of a period of hard work where you knuckled down and did whatever it took to get the result. One day in years to come you will look back and share the story with your loved ones as a period of great achievement. And when I hear it, I will say to you “Well done!”

Live with passion, always stay on your life purpose, and stay at peace.

Stan Kontos