Hard work pays off - Agree or Disagree?

[Jacob1983]

I was having a discussion with one of my co-workers the other day about this and we were talking about how that hard work doesn't pay off in life. We also agreed that to get ahead in life, you have to have connections, wealth, and/or luck. Does hard work really pay off in life? And how about giving your best effort all the time? Does that really mean anything? Just look at American politics. People always say bullshit like "if you really work hard and do your best, you could wind up as governor or president". In reality, you probably won't unless you come from a family of wealth and/or have connections. Look at the history of presidents in America. How many of them were average joes?

[Slydragon]

Wow this sound almost like this fucking post you did like 5 mins ago.

http://spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=145939

If you work hard at being patience, then you would have seen the reply.

[greyforest]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=temI3phSF0I#t=4m16s

cant embed with timestamp

[Rogue]

don't ever underestimate the power of nepotism sons, Arnold Schwarzenegger wasn't a politician before he seduced and married Kennedy's niece IMHO.

[PM5K]

Sounds like a couple of people making excuses for their lack of success due to a lack of effort.

[coyotes_geek]

Working hard with connections will get you further than having connections but not working hard.

Working hard without connections will get you further than not working hard and not having connections.

Doesn't matter whether or not connections without hard work will get you further than hard work without connections. Whatever your personal situation is, it improves with hard work.

Now quit bitching and get back to work.

[ploto]

The highest reward for a person's toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it. --John Ruskin

[JudynTX]

Working hard with connections will get you further than having connections but not working hard.

Working hard without connections will get you further than not working hard and not having connections.

Doesn't matter whether or not connections without hard work will get you further than hard work without connections. Whatever your personal situation is, it improves with hard work.

Now quit bitching and get back to work.

:lol

I work hard, but play hard too. :hat

[MiamiHeat]

Not really

It depends on what you are working hard at.

Working hard at a dead end job will get you nowhere.

Working hard at building your own business will get you where you want to be

[spurster]

Yes with regards to education. High school and college are the key points in life to work hard to learn all you can.

[gatoloco]

if you have a plan for success and work hard at it, you will succeed.

you have to work hard at making yourself more valuable to an employer and you have to work for an employer that has numerous growth opportunities.

if your plan is just to work hard and see what happens, then your not calling the shots in your life and yeah, it's up to dumb luck and who you know at that point.

[Viva Las Espuelas]

Hmm. I never knew you could pay bills with "at a boy"s.

[MiamiHeat]

The highest reward for a person's toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it. --John Ruskin

well, seems like i didn't learn anything by avoiding the toil, but it sure is hard to care with all this luxury around me!

[Whisky Dog]

Working hard and smart works. Working hard for other people's benefit who could easily cut you out like so many people do for years is foolish.

Working hard at something you love doing no longer feels like work.

[coyotes_geek]

Not really

It depends on what you are working hard at.

Working hard at a dead end job will get you nowhere.

Working hard at building your own business will get you where you want to be

Since not working hard at that dead end job will probably get you fired, you're still better off working hard.

[johnsmith]

well, seems like i didn't learn anything by avoiding the toil, but it sure is hard to care with all this luxury around me!

You are hands down the biggest douche on this website........good job.

[Viva Las Espuelas]

Work smarter, not harder is my motto.

[MiamiHeat]

You are hands down the biggest douche on this website........good job.

I challenge that notion. Prove it or be taken a fool!

*lays back on my expensive chair*

[Viva Las Espuelas]

I challenge that notion. Prove it or be taken a fool!

*lays back on my expensive chair*

Is it made out of rich mahogany?

[Blake]

work smarter, not harder is my motto.

+1

[Blake]

I'd also say it's been my experience that if you want to "get ahead" in your career, forget trying to move up the ladder with your current employer.

Unless you are remingtonbo, to get a promotion you almost always have to move out.

[angel_luv]

I'd also say it's been my experience that if you want to "get ahead" in your career, forget trying to move up the ladder with your current employer.

Unless you are remingtonbo, to get a promotion you almost always have to move out.

No joke!

Bo has a magnetic personality ( which goes great with his kind heart). Everybody loves him.

I belonged to our church for several years before Bo came.
But within weeks of his attending there, I had become known as " the girl with Bo"- instead of vice versa, as might be expected since I had been around longer.

[panic giraffe]

Working hard at something you love doing no longer feels like work.

this.

[EmptyMan]

Hard work DOES pay off.

It's Natural Law.

It's just that the payment you seek may not always match the payment you produce. If it's not paying off, you are not working hard enough.

You also have to get broken to build, wait wut?

[Wild Cobra]

Hard work pays off - Agree or Disagree?
Depends.

If you are in a union job, and outshine your co-workers, they will find a way to retaliate. Besides, in a union, you don't get raises by merit.

Non-Union jobs... Definitely. Hard work pays, unless you are with the few rare employers who don't recognize hard workers. Best find a new job anyway then, because they will doom themselves to failure.

UNIONS ARE FOR LAZY PUSSIES!

[sabar]

Of course it does. For one, if you don't work hard you'll drop out of school and be unemployed for eternity. Even dead-end jobs don't fall into people's laps. If you don't need to work hard to get an education then you should be smart enough to go to college and do anything you want anyways.

Work hard or work smart. Being dumb and lazy is a good recipe for failure.

[Jacob1983]

The reason why I brought this question up in the first place was because I had that saying embedded in my head like a million times when I was younger especially in high school. I had so many teachers tell me that hard work pays. My parents also are firm believers in the saying. I believe that I did work pretty hard to get my college degree. I know that I don't have a fancy job or decent paying job but I have a job. Having a job is better than not having a job. But back to college, I would say I worked myself to death to get that degree. A lot of people would have given up in my situation. It took 3 colleges, borrowing 50K to pay for it, and 5 and a half years to finish but I did it. I will admit that there will numerous times when I wanted to pussy out and quit but I didn't. And one of my resolutions for 2010 is to get a better job. I have been applying to numerous jobs every week. I just want to finally get the rewards of all of this hard work. I just want to get a decent paying job. I want the job to give me purpose and satisfaction too. I know a lot of people only want jobs that pay a lot and could care if it gives them purpose and/satisfaction. Not me. I will admit that I'm human so I do care about the money but the purpose and satisfaction aspects are more important to me.

[MannyIsGod]

Of course hard work pays off. Doing nothing certainly doesn't pay off. I think what you meant to ask was why didn't my hard work give me everything that I wanted. I believe the answer I'm looking for is life isn't fair. That doesn't mean that you won't drown if you don't try to swim, though.

[Nbadan]

Hardworking people are reliable and as a boss you want reliable people...it also builds character since it is respected in our society....people respect you because you are a hard worker...your more likely to climb the career ladder faster and have a positive attitude toward work....it's not good to slack at any job because reputation follows you around....looking for a job? ...seek Alumni at your school and see if they have any career positions opennings in their companies..

[Nbadan]

Of course hard work pays off. Doing nothing certainly doesn't pay off. I think what you meant to ask was why didn't my hard work give me everything that I wanted. I believe the answer I'm looking for is life isn't fair. That doesn't mean that you won't drown if you don't try to swim, though.

There are likely many recent college grads feeling the pinch....it really is the early bird gets the worm though...job seeking sucks...if you want to show an employer that your serious though, get up at 5:30, start knocking on doors, network, or take a temp position and build your rep...

[TDMVPDPOY]

hard work does pays off, but then you still need to be given the opportunity to show what you can do...it all comes down to luck, right place at the right time, or unless ur lucky the recruiters will come to you instead of you coming to them sending numerous cvs...

[polandprzem]

it depends how you look at it.

IMO it does not pay off in many many situations.
There is one aspect of my life where I worked almost all my life, hard as anybody and i got hardly any profit of that. And I'm not talking money.

many people that are sucesfull says it was because of hard work. Haha GMAB - they just want to make their value even higher.

As for the job - there much more lazier people then me which can do much less then me and do not give a damn about work or job and earning much more money.

It all depends on situation and perspective and how every people look at it.
There is no YES / NO answer to that question.

[symple19]

Hard Work doesn't usually pay off, but good contacts do

[exstatic]

I was having a discussion with one of my co-workers the other day about this and we were talking about how that hard work doesn't pay off in life. We also agreed that to get ahead in life, you have to have connections, wealth, and/or luck. Does hard work really pay off in life? And how about giving your best effort all the time? Does that really mean anything? Just look at American politics. People always say bullshit like "if you really work hard and do your best, you could wind up as governor or president". In reality, you probably won't unless you come from a family of wealth and/or have connections. Look at the history of presidents in America. How many of them were average joes?

God, you're a bitter bitch. Oh, yeah, Mavs fan. I forgot.

The trick is to work hard for yourself. I never GAF about my company. I've learned that lesson. They just pay the bills. I think about what I want and where I want to be in five years. That may very well be at another company, or at my own company. You have to keep your job in the meantime, though. You'll probably want some raises and promotions, too.

BTW, that's a stupid conversation to have with a co-worker in bad economic times. People will sell you out to the boss for little more than a pat on the head. Have that convo with non-co-workers, with your friends at the bar.

[fraga]

Half is hard work...and the other half is definitely WHO you know...making sure you don't burn bridges...and keeping good connections will definitely help you get into places you might not normally be able to...how do I know this...because I am living proof...I'm good at what I do...but because of the people I know...and who they know...I've been able to pull of some awesome positions with some amazing pay...

[spursncowboys]

Work smarter, not harder is my motto.
Scrooge McDuck was the best inspiration ever. Although there has to be a demand in whatever the hell you are working on/at.

[exstatic]

Half is hard work...and the other half is definitely WHO you know...making sure you don't burn bridges...and keeping good connections will definitely help you get into places you might not normally be able to...how do I know this...because I am living proof...I'm good at what I do...but because of the people I know...and who they know...I've been able to pull of some awesome positions with some amazing pay...

Oh, yeah, you have to network, but it isn't like you're born into those connections. You make them as you go along. Another reason to work hard for yourself, and not be one of the bitchers/complainers. Others are watching, the peeps that can become your network. Supervisors, co-workers, clients.

[lil'mo]

Pay your dues son. You're 26 and you think you should have a meaningful and lucrative job already? Who are you? Ashbeigh?

You haven't done shit yet and chances are, this "hard work' you say you've put in is probably nothing in comparison to "hard work" that actual successful people have put in.

So, in other words, shut the fuck up.

[The Reckoning]

work harder

[Bukefal]

Overall yes, working hard definitely pays off.

[Jacob1983]

I think one of the main problems I have is that I didn't realize that the world was a shitty place and that not everyone is a good/nice person until I got out of high school. That's how naive I was when I was younger. I use to honestly think that the world was a good place and that everyone was a good person at heart. As I got out of high school, I realized that the world is an evil place. I also realized that not everyone is a good person. A majority of people on Earth and especially in America are only care about the dollar bill and themselves. I wasn't always a complainer/crying bitch. I try not to let my job get to me because it's retail. I shouldn't let a retail job stress me out and make me such a basket-case but I'm a weak person and let it do that to me. I also was betrayed and burned by a lot of people in my past so it's kind of made me a little paranoid and hostile toward people. I'm the type of person that believes that people will do whatever it takes to get to the top in life and if that means stabbing someone in the back or screwing someone over, they will do it.

[Kori Ellis]

I don't get the point of you posting basically the same thing in two different threads. So I'll just close this one, and everyone can use the other one.