There Is No Substitute for Hard Work

I've met a fair number of successful, self-made people in my life. They all work in different industries, and came from different backgrounds and walks of life. The one thing they all have in common? They all work hard. And they all work a LOT.

In my opinion success has always been about doing work. The old 'right place, right time' is what jealous people say about successful people - I know this because I'm guilty of using this excuse in the past.

Yes, many successful people did catch an awesome 'once in a life time' break at one point in their lives, but when that opportunity came about, they were ready, because they were working, and once they said 'yes' to that opportunity, they worked even harder.

The same goes for the people I know who have built incredible bodies.

They used different workout routines and different diets, but each and every one of them were 'nose-to-the-grindstone, get-it-done' kind of people. Yes, some had great genetics to start, some used steroids, but all of them, ALL of them did work, And lots of it.

Despite what the latest 'make money quick', or 'get jacked' fads may promise, there is simply no substitute for hard work. And this is where I would like to draw the analogy between business success and building muscle. It is similar to the analogy between body fat and debt.

Basically, the same principles that create successful entrepreneurs also create people who are successful at changing their bodies.

The first Principle - Successful people do work.

Successful people work hard. Yes, we can argue quality over quantity, and doing the 'right type' of work, but all things being equal, more work is generally better than less. And yes, I know the trend right now in business and weight training is to talk about doing less work, but let's face it - it takes a lot of hard work to get to the point where you can preach to people about doing less work.

The true visionaries, people like Elon Musk and Richard Branson - they are committed to consistently out-working their competitors. They do more work, more of the 'right kind of work' and more 'quality work'. They do more everything. But they also try and do 'less' work. The trick is that they have a very unique way of doing 'less work' - I would say they redefine what 'work' means.

You have to make work fun, if you can do that it's ceases to fell like work, it just becomes what you do, simply because you feel fulfilled and satisfied doing it. Most successful people don't work for an hour then take 4 days off. They don't work a little bit. They never stop working, because they enjoy it.

But, it's not work to them in the classic sense since they are doing something they love, and they are careful to also enjoy life. As much as you may hate to hear it, the same goes for building a great body. It takes a commitment to doing work and a lot of it. You'll always see marketing claims about the people who supposedly built great bodies on 20 minutes of exercise once a week, because quick results with minimal work will always be an attractive sales pitch. but as a general rule, great bodies take work. So to be able to consistently do a lot of work, it must be something you love doing.

Which brings me to the Second Principle - You must love what you do if you're going to be successful

Stop looking at what other people are doing. Stop cheating off someone else's paper and write your own paper.

If you're going to commit to doing a lot of work, it has to be something you love. I have a friend who makes a living owning a fight-wear company, and another who makes a living as a trader. They're both successful because they're working hard at something they love to do. I doubt they'd have the same success if they switched jobs. The same principle works for building your body.

If you love lifting weights then lift weights. If you love Kettlebells then swing your bells. If you love CrossFit then do CrossFit, who cares what other people are doing, or what they think of what you are doing... Other people aren't creating your success, you are.

It has to be enjoyable for you, if it's a chore, you're not going to do it, or at least you're not going to do it as well as you could. So find the workout that is right for you right now, then work hard, push yourself and enjoy it.

Principle Three - Know how you are doing (Feedback and metrics)

What is your end goal? You need to know this. Is it to make money, or to have as many Twitter followers as possible? If your goal is to make money, then you should measure your success by how much money you are making, if it's something else, then measure success based on whatever it is you truly want, but to be successful you MUST HAVE SOME MEASURE OF SUCCESS.

The same goes for workouts. Is your goal to have a great body? If so then measure your workout success based on your measurements. If your goal is to be strong then measure your workouts based on how strong you are getting... but measure something, and most importantly make sure what you are measuring is a good indicator of whether or not you are moving towards your true goal.

Successful people do a lot of work, but they do it with direction. After all, if you don't have direction then how do you know whether or not you are progressing? Work is only valuable if it comes with some sort of feedback.

You can sum up these three principles as "Do work, make sure you love what you do and don't forget to measure your progress." There are lots of other principles you could add to this statement, ideas like being a self-motivator, dreaming big and taking pride in your work, but for the most part, these all come after you commit to doing work.

There is no substitute for hard work. It's the secret ingredient to most people's success - and it's what will help you in business, building a better body and in life. Don't be afraid to do work.

Finally, remember - anything worth doing is worth doing well.