Whenever we're talking about the ways to be successful in life, some things can never be neglected, and one of them is hard work.
This image is mine
It is always impossible for a lazy man to be successful in life; rather they will remain stagnant in the same spot, and be looking for people to give them money to eat. At some point, people will be reluctant to give them money, because they are not paralyzed or disabled.
This is what usually leads some people to stealing, and engagement in some illegal activities.
A Yoruba adage says; one's palm doesn't deceive one, (Àtélewó eni kíí tan nii je).
I have realized that hard work is not the key to success, but it is a path, and criteria to achieve success.
Whenever I looked at some brothers in my area, I used to ask myself different questions like: how and why are they like this?
Imagine a young guy of 30 years of age looking like a father of 65 years of age, all because of their work and how tedious it is.
I have known some people since I was very young who have engaged themselves in some hard labor to feed themselves and their different families.
The only thing that can be pointed out as an achievement for these people was that they were not begging for food or clothes.
I usually wonder why things are the way it is for these kinds of people, after they have worked very hard, and they have nothing to show for it. I used to ask myself different questions about why things remain the same, even with the level of their hard work.
Are they caused?
Are they doing the wrong work?
Are they not destined to be successful in life?
These and some other questions usually troubled my mind about these people.
I came to realize the difference between hard work and smart work.
In today's world, there is a lot of work that one can be doing from the comfort of his or her home, which fetches them a reasonable amount of money at the end of the work.
This work requires a simple strength but a lot of creativity, to achieve the right result.
People engaged in some remote work that allows them to do other things simultaneously.
Image source
For an individual to be successful in life, they need to engage themselves in some smart hard work.
In the century that we are now in, every individual needs to be successful through God's direction and blessings, smartness in their hard work, and connections.
For anyone hard working, then success is very certain for such person.