"Just work hard, and success will follow" is the lie we tell ourselves. 

It is the lie that fuels us to try harder. It keeps us up late at night behind the computer screen, reading emails and studying for days on end.

That is correct. I don't believe in hard work. Working hard does not magically guarantee that everything you do will be great. Neither can it protect you from inflation or a downturn in the economy.

Don't get me wrong, I believe hard work is essential to achieving success. It's just not the secret sauce that will get you there. Exhausting all of our energy like a hamster on a hamster wheel will not produce the results we want. In plain words, working hard is not enough; it never was and never will be.

At its core, hard work puts all your energy and effort into one task with the expectation to achieve the desired outcome. This could be a business, a project, or any type of work, really. It's the extra mile that people go to try to ensure success.

Working hard for 30 plus years with people I don't like for a job I don't love is a miserable way to live. But, unfortunately, people do this all the time. The bills may be paid, but they are not happy deep down in their hearts. In my own experience, many people I know have been working hard for years with little success. Working hard at a dead-end job gets you nowhere fast. 

This is probably one of the reasons the average person has worked 12 jobs in 32 years (according to a study published in 2015 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics). It doesn't matter if their goal is to lose weight or save up an emergency fund; they put in 110% effort and reap zero results. The funny thing is that no one wants to admit it. The first thing they will say is, "I need to work harder" or "I'm almost there; I just need a little more time." But what if they are wrong because their focus is in the wrong direction. Besides hard work, these 4 things are also needed to be productive; discernment, access to good timely information, a strategy, mixed with a bit of faith or luck.

Discernment

One of the missing links that make hard work productive and not burdensome is discernment. The person that works hard at the right things at the right time will always have an advantage over someone who insists on doing things one way for no good reason.

Discernment is not some unattainable skill possessed by a few rare individuals. Discernment is simply the ability to see what needs to be done and choose to act on it or not work on it. It's that simple; discernment comes down to taking action or passively allowing life to drag you along into mediocrity at best. It's an intentional process that requires you to be mindful of your situations. It is often difficult to do because it asks you to remove your pride and see the environment objectively. This is a humbly exercise as it reveals what we don't know. But gives us the confidence to make a decision.

Reliable Information

To make the best decisions possible, you need good reliable, timely information. It is no secret that we live in the digital age of information. Accurate information translates to trivia fun facts with no practical application at the wrong time. Finding out your favorite band is coming to town is exciting until you realize you missed them. It does no good knowing the stock market will crash after it happens. At the right time, accurate news creates opportunities.

Companies that are trying to grow spend significant funds on research and development. They understand the importance of being proactive in preventing possible failures and creating opportunities for future success. No matter your goals, seeking out good and reliable information should be at the top of your priority list. Situations are constantly changing and access to the correct information at the right time is the difference between sinking and swimming.

Strategy

Knowing what to do also isn't enough either to achieve success. It doesn't matter what you strive for in life; you need a strategy. A strategy is a plan that puts the pieces together. Making a plan requires taking all types of information, discernment of your current situation, and a little bit of hope that the future will pan out well.

Knowing what to do also isn't enough either to achieve success. It doesn't matter what you strive for in life; you need a strategy. A strategy is a plan that puts the pieces together. Making a plan requires taking all types of information, discernment of your current situation, and a little bit of hope that the future will pan out well.

The General battle plan outlines what steps are needed to achieve victory. Tactics are the strategies for achieving individual goals. Tactics are not static and need to be updated periodically as new information changes the field's conditions. Tactics should focus on the most important tasks that lead up to completing your overall goal.

If you want to be rich and famous, you need a plan. The plan is like holding a map that tells you where you are going and how to get there. The same applies to working hard and not getting anywhere; the person with the plan will be much better off than the person who just works hard. Of course, tactics can be learned, but a strategy will always make someone more successful than simply working harder than everyone else.

The Faith/Luck Factor

A little luck can go a long way. I can toil the soil and plant the seed. While I can also put it in sunlight and water it, what I can't do is make it grow. This requires faith on my part. It doesn't matter how strong and intelligent I am; there will always be some elements out of my control. In these moments of uncertainty, it helps to have a little hope. You can call it luck, faith, or both. The point is we all need a little encouragement from time to time from a source outside of ourselves.

Conclusion

It doesn't matter if you are working hard at the right things for a thousand hours. Hard work on its own is simply not enough. Likewise, if you don't have good information, it won't matter. Without reliable information, you cannot make good decisions. 

Every strategy crafted under the sun will fail without discernment. Only when these things are combined with a bit of faith are extraordinary things possible.