Our society is in conflict, we worship the successful yet we vilify their path. Being successful and remaining at the top of your profession takes hard work. It takes the type of hard work most people find unreasonable.
It’s absolutely unreasonable to work as hard as Richard Branson, cellist Yo Yo Ma or AFL star Dane Swan. Dane works full time at his game including weights, yoga, skill sessions, altitude training, interval running, competitor analysis not to mention hours of recovery in waist deep sea water in the chilly Melbourne mid winter conditions. Lawyers looking to become partners can routinely bill 80 hours a week. To be the best it takes hard work.
For too many of us hard work has become cliche. Most people can’t really comprehend the concept of real hard work. The work required for the lifestyle most people want has too often been labeled unreasonable. It is unreasonable to work on weekends, on vacation, it’s unreasonable to sit at a piano 8 hours straight. It’s unreasonable to have to work that hard.
However working unreasonably hard, creates unreasonable salaries and wealth. Especially if you are in sales and have no limits to what you can earn. Reasonable effort gets you a reasonable salary. Substantial effort gets you a substantial salary. No effort gets you no salary. Unreasonable work effort gets you unreasonable reward.
The next time you are faced with an unreasonable work load be like most folk and don’t do it. You’re right it is unreasonable. Just remember, you get what you work for.
