Work hard, get ahead?

You’ve no doubt heard that if you work hard, you’ll be able to get ahead.

I really grasped this concept growing up and I thought; ‘if I out work people I will crush it’. From an early age I ripped straight into work.

- I had a paper run to get me started - I juggled this with school and did it early am or at night (sometimes in the dark - no I don't need your 'poor me' I loved it).

- I then went into working in a 4 Square. Epic job! Again juggling school and my teen years of wanting to drink Kristov vodka with my mates (not recommended).

- I then did a summer in a freezing works. 5am starts, you beauty.

- Then into a distribution centre over summers and during university years.

- Then into my career and I was up for travel, Saturday work. Even when on a salary I would do extra work (often unpaid).

If there was over time, ya boy was working it. Any chance to stack some more paper and out work those who didn’t want it.

The massive problem I had was I hadn’t learnt to be a good saver and all of the stuff I now bang on about. I earnt plenty but didn’t know how to keep it.

My habit of hard work rewarded me, but I hadn’t built good financial habits yet.

Part of the reason I would blow it was because I would want to ‘reward myself’ for how hard I was working. I thought that was the done thing to do. Why not!

As I got older, I could tell something was broken and it wasn’t JUST hard work that would be needed to change the trajectory of my life.

I started to think about sports stars, wealthy people, high income earners, people who retire early.

What did they know that I didn’t? Did they just work really hard and someone notice and give them plenty of cash?

Maybe they didn’t p!ss away what they did earn or tick up lazy boys for their flat?

I discovered that these people DID know something I DIDN’T and we will look at this below.

But firstly, as recently as Jan 2023 I noticed that the ‘hard work’ methodology is still alive & well.

‘’If you work hard, you should be able to get ahead. Some people are working multiple jobs, but they feel they aren't getting ahead’’ - new Prime Minister Chris Hipkins on day 1 in the job.

Surely, we should be able to get ahead when we work hard? (Side note: what is ‘getting ahead?’).

But remember, humans are wired to do the least possible for the maximum possible return.

Back to my life-changing discovery and it is that it’s not just about ‘working hard’ it’s about ‘adding value’.

''You can’t just work hard. You have to work smart''. Who has heard that?

Well, what the hell is working smart? I had to go and study that.

Once I grasped it, I thought, 'well sh!t why not do both'? I love hard work, have for years. Now I need to learn about this 'add value' thing.

Because people pay for value.

Whilst researching, I stumbled across Bob Proctor’s law of compensation.

This law states that the amount of money you will earn will always be in exact ratio to these 3 things:

- The need for what you do

- Your ability to do it

- The difficulty there will be in replacing you

Ok, ok it’s not just about doing overtime and ‘working hard’. I needed to focus on these 3 things.

If this Bob dude was right, he was making me realise that I could easily be replaced as a paper boy, in a factory, in a superette, in a distribution centre. I didn’t even need to be that good to do these things either.

I now knew that I needed to keep looking for something in high demand, get really good at it and be so good it would be hard to replace me.

Perfect, I could play for the Wellington Phoenix and get rich....then I realised I suck at football.

Now remember from above, humans are wired to do as little as possible and hope for the maximum possible return. This is human nature.

Therefore, we most probably won’t increase our ability to do something without understanding this. And it makes sense why those people with massive levels of ability get remunerated appropriately in their chosen field.

You’ve got to train yourself out of the ‘do the minimum required’ if you genuinely want more from your life. The beauty is many people never will, so you’re then more likely to succeed and achieve more than you realise is possible, if you do.

Perhaps you are reading this, thinking you want to ‘get ahead’ or simply be paid more. What can you do as part of that 3 point framework of the law of compensation to increase your likelihood?

Simply doing more hours like I thought was the play may not be the right thing to do.

Sure, you may earn a bit more because others aren't prepared to do the extra hours, but this tactic is 'working harder' not 'smarter'.

If you don’t like Bob’s rule, check out what one of the richest people in the world says:

"You are paid in direct proportion to the difficulty of the problems you solve." --Elon Musk

That’s why if you want A LOT, it’s wise to get very good at solving very HARD problems.

Hopefully that got you thinking,

Luke

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