Some put in a lot of overtime to make their vision come true in their jobs and places in life. This hard work can be good or not so good for a number of reasons.
This is good work because hard work often leads to success, and to make your dreams come true often requires working overtime in any endeavor.
Yet some will say, work smarter, not harder. This is an important point of view to consider. To work overtime too often can eat away at other aspects of life, and too much work may point to the fact that the way you are working for change or betterment may not be smart enough. Your hard work, in some ways, may be ineffective work delaying your vision rather than helping it to come true.
So it seems that the best direction is to work hard, but also work smart.
Know your vision and dreams, and understand what these vision and dreams include and don't include. Recently I lamented a loss, but with consideration, I realized that I rarely fed that area of my life so it's not surprising that it is a loss. As the old adage reveals you reap what you sow--you get what you give. If you don't invest time, thought, and energy into particular areas of life, you will likely not succeed in those areas. Why didn't I invest in those areas of life that I lament now--simply put, my plate was full--I simply didn't have the time or will to invest in those areas, I chose other priorities instead.
Working smart depends on your ability to clearly visualize where you are headed, and what you hope to achieve. Recently I was involved in a pursuit that was a bit tough. I made the time to clearly visualize, plan, and prepare for almost all aspects of this event, and those aspects met with great success. I missed good planning for one aspect of the event, and that was less successful--next time I'll plan for that aspect of the event too.
Our regrets and less successful events and experiences in life are often the result of not giving those events and experiences sufficient attention, visualization, planning, and prep. Disappointment can lead us to think more about those areas of life and change the way we work in that regard to prepare for greater success. And as we invest our time and energy, we also need to be aware that we can't be all or do all--success in one area sometimes means you may not gain similar success or satisfaction in another area because you simply can't be in all places or do all things at once. Onward.