Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. Thomas Edison
Edison apparently believed that people often missed the opportunity to advance in life. Because a new idea or method of work looked too much like, well, “work”. People like to stay comfortable, and often resist change, or hard work.
On first glance I thought this quote was about working harder – putting in more hours and producing more output. But it’s not.
It’s not about working your fingers to the bone until you collapse in a heap (although that is sometimes part of the deal).
This isn’t about working harder, it’s about doing hard work.
Hard work is the work that `most people’ won’t do because it involves change and change is hard.
Changing the way we think and changing the way we act.
Hard work is rising to the challenge, overcoming fear and making difficult decisions.
Hard work is starting again after every failure.
Hard work involves being out of your comfort zone (maybe indefinitely).
Hard work is having difficult conversations.
Hard work is fixing damaged relationships.
Hard work is taking responsibility.
Hard work is about accepting criticism and dealing with rejection.
Hard work is changing ingrained habits and creating new behaviors.
“Most people’ won’t do what needs to be done which makes it impossible to create the conditions under which opportunities can present themselves.
Don’t be `most people’.
