Hard Work : Why some people fail despite working so hard

NOTE: I DO BELIEVE THAT YOU MUST GIVE 100% TO THE THING THAT YOU DO. WORKING HARD IS ALWAYS GOOD IF YOU ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE PURSUING. HOWEVER, IF YOU DON’T REALLY LIKE DOING WHAT YOU DO THEN I FEEL YOU MUST READ THIS.

So, this was a topic that was on my mind for a long time. Why is it that people fail despite working real hard. Some students study day and night just to secure average marks in the exam. Some people have to work day and night just to make ends meet. Some people may practice a sport for hours a day and are yet outperformed by individuals who work way less than them.

Personally, I have experienced this a lot in my life. Many times it has happened that despite putting in hours of work, I could not get the desired results. All these instances in my life caused me to think deeply about this stuff and I learned a lot of key insights that helped me later on.

Starting off with my story, as a kid I was really bright in studies. Till about 6th standard I got really good marks (more than 90% almost 90% of the time). In 6th standard my performance went down to 90% from 95% in 5th standard. Now, this had a lot to do with the internal beliefs that I had about marks. I personally felt that as we move to higher standards it is difficult to score good marks. Now, I think that this is a very common belief that most people have and I guess most of you reading this would relate to it. The thing is that as we move to higher standards the level of studies keeps increasing, so I personally felt that scoring good marks as we move to higher standards keeps getting difficult. And to be honest, this is what happened in my life as I look back. Although in 12th boards, I managed to get 85% which was better than what I scored in 9th, 10th and 11th but it was nowhere near the percentages that I would score in primary school. I guess you would say primary school is easy to score marks which is true in a way. But the point is that I personally felt scoring above 90% is extremely tough in 12th boards and it manifested in my reality. I ended up at 85% because that was the score that I felt was achievable for my efforts.

Now, coming back to hard work. In 10th standard, I used to study almost 60% of the time that I was awake. That is a metaphor to help you get a figure because I haven’t calculated it. In my opinion, I was working really hard and despite all the efforts I was only able to secure 83%. All this time, I would wonder where am I going wrong and I think it had a lot to do with the conditions I had been put into while studying. I used to have a depressed mindset because I was forced by my parents to study. In my opinion, I doubt I could have worked harder than what I did at that point of time.

In 12th standard, I had a little less pressure on myself and I got 85% which I felt was a good result for me. Now coming to first year in college, I got a 7.9 GPA which was a good score int he first semester. However, the 2nd sem and onwards it dropped to 6.9 GPA mainly because of the internal problems that I was facing. At that point of time, my mind was really bad and I just could not focus on my studies no matter how hard I tried. I remember I stayed up the whole night for an exam that I ended up passing by a small margin. LOL. Things were pretty crazy back then.

So, a lot of people think that by increasing the amount of time for work they can overcome anything. Parents feel that by pushing their kids more and more they would get better grades which is not really true, at least from my experience. It depends a lot on what the kid really wants. Now, it is not just for success in studies but for other things in general too. People can really slog to increase their sales with little results and find that their peers are doing better in sales with less efforts.

So, one main thing that I have talked about is the fact that beliefs create reality. What you believe to be true, you find it manifested in your reality. For example, if you internally believe that you cannot exceed making more than 1 lakh rupees a month then that is the reality you are going to live no matter how hard you work. Apart from this, at times the universe may want you to change your direction in life. For example, if you are suited to become a football player then you may find yourself getting low results in studies. Perhaps, it is the universe telling you to pursue your passion in football. Remember, the subconscious mind of every person has a will of its own. Your path in life may be different from others. So, you must let go of whatever that does not serve you. In my case, I knew that marks did not mean much to me after a certain point of time. Had I not undergone those problems, I may not have understood these concepts that I know today.

Coming to hard work, I feel people usually coin this term when they don’t really enjoy the work that they do. It really gives off the impression that one is bearing a lot of pain to do it in the first place. Talking about my journey, I used to spend hours writing blogs at night even while I was doing MBA. So for me it never felt like I was working way too hard for my dreams. Although my friends really thought that I was a hard working person. And yet, I found it difficult to even cover 1 chapter for the exam the next day or to spend time listening to lectures. I have come to realize that it is much easier to put efforts into something that one is passionate towards and when the outcome really means something to you.

So, over the years what I have come to realize is the fact that beliefs create reality (I have talked about it many times). Putting efforts is never difficult if you are passionate towards something. If you feel bored while doing something then most probably that thing is not meant for you. Hard work is not the only thing that counts. Your mood and perception towards the thing that you pursue play a very important role. There are many ways to be successful in life. You must choose the path that is most suitable to you.

Personally, all the hard work I did growing up may not have helped me get good marks all the time, but I guess it led to me knowing certain concepts that I may never have noticed had I not slogged during that time. Hopefully it helps. Have a nice day!!!!