---
title: "Sorry, Hard Work Does Not Equal Excellence, and Effort Does Not Always Pay Off!"
description: "What determines how excellent a person is not how hard they work, but their way of thinking. A graduate school candidate studies 12 hours a day, often staying up until 1-2 AM—is that hard work? Very hard, but is he excellent? Not necessarily. An operations person chases hot topics and stays up late writing articles to gain a few followers and more reads—is that hard work? Very hard, but will she necessarily be excellent? Not necessarily. Your way of thinking determines your behavior, and your behavior ultimately determines how excellent you are. I could have written..."
author: "大象小兵"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2016-06-04"
language: "en"
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original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/xw163AeEyUIT7I9cT4OInQ"
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# Sorry, Hard Work Does Not Equal Excellence, and Effort Does Not Always Pay Off!

> What determines how excellent a person is not how hard they work, but their way of thinking. A graduate school candidate studies 12 hours a day, often staying up until 1-2 AM—is that hard work? Very hard, but is he excellent? Not necessarily. An operations person chases hot topics and stays up late writing articles to gain a few followers and more reads—is that hard work? Very hard, but will she necessarily be excellent? Not necessarily. Your way of thinking determines your behavior, and your behavior ultimately determines how excellent you are. I could have written...

What determines how excellent a person is not how hard they work, but their way of thinking.
A graduate school candidate studies 12 hours a day, often staying up until 1-2 AM—is that hard work? Very hard, but is he excellent? Not necessarily.
An operations person chases hot topics and stays up late writing articles to gain a few followers and more reads—is that hard work? Very hard, but will she necessarily be excellent? Not necessarily.
**Your way of thinking determines your behavior, and your behavior ultimately determines how excellent you are.**
I could have written an inspirational article, comforting you that your efforts will eventually be rewarded, that you are not not excellent enough, just that you haven't worked hard enough, and one day you will become what you imagine. But that would not save people; it would only harm them. I won't do that.
So this article will be divided into two parts, attempting to solve this problem from a positive angle; rather than telling stories, after which you get something half-understood.
1
**Hard work does not equal excellence: redefine an excellent person**
Do you have a clear concept in your mind of what kind of person counts as excellent?
Hardworking? Persistent? Action-oriented? Eager to learn?
Yes, perhaps these are qualities that an excellent person possesses, but possessing them does not mean you are excellent. Just as a stone can be described as hard, round, flat, smooth.
But are hard, round, flat, smooth things necessarily stones? Going one level up from description is defining things.
I will attempt to define an excellent person, stripping it down and placing it before you, so you know roughly what excellence means.
**In my view, an excellent person is necessarily wise, able to quickly grasp the underlying laws of things.**
Cleverness is often a methodological skill, while wisdom is often a superb worldview. A hardworking person supplemented with methodology will inevitably achieve material success, but can such a person be considered excellent?
No.
Hard work does not equal excellence, and cleverness does not equal excellence; a person who is clever, hardworking, and supplemented with a bit of wisdom should be considered so. **They can spend 20% of their time and energy to do 80% of things well, and they do not take success as the only guide.** This is the difference between cleverness, hard work, and wisdom.[1]
You work very hard, 16 hours a day, but it's useless; you haven't become more excellent. Because if you're on the wrong path, stopping your efforts is progress.
Don't let ignorant hard work move yourself. Are migrant workers hardworking?[2] Very hardworking, but are they excellent? Not necessarily.
I've seen many friends around me who are very hardworking in work and study, but I don't think they are particularly excellent, and sometimes I even think they are using behavioral effort to cover up mental laziness. They comfort themselves with "I'm busy, I'm working hard," but ignore the purpose of being so busy and hardworking.
You are not only hardworking but also master the methods of success, but does that count as excellent?
Sometimes this formula holds, because when material desires are satisfied, people's needs naturally rise to the spiritual level, touching the threshold of wisdom.
But sometimes it doesn't hold. Have you seen officials who fell due to corruption and adultery? Have you seen friends who ended up in jail for drug trafficking, pornography, or gambling?[3] Do you want to be "excellent" like them?
Excellence is not purely material satisfaction; it should also include spiritual richness. You know what you want and know how to obtain it in a way that does not violate your heart.
However, when a person is very hardworking, has learned scientific methods, and possesses a worldview of another level, I believe such a person is excellent.
Recommended reference: "You Bao Chan Shan Ji" (A Journey to Bao Chan Mountain) by Wang Anshi
> The flat and near places attract many visitors; the dangerous and far places attract few. But the world's wonders, rarities, and extraordinary sights often lie in the dangerous and far places, which few people reach, so without determination, one cannot reach them. With determination, not following others to stop, but lacking strength, one also cannot reach. With determination and strength, and not being lazy, but without external aid in dark and confusing places, one also cannot reach. But if strength is sufficient to reach, and one doesn't, it is laughable to others and a regret to oneself. If I exhaust my determination and still cannot reach, I can have no regrets. Who can mock me? This is my insight!
Hard work, wisdom, and persistence, when combined, often lead a person to excellence. (Cleverness is just a methodology; often observation can acquire it.)
**Excellent people know what they want and can achieve harmony between ideals and reality.**
**An excellent person should have clear direction; they cherish their time, energy, and choices.** They use their brain to command and control them, hitting where they aim.
Everyone's time and energy are limited. To become excellent, you need to continuously invest and produce in this field. Thus, excellent people often have clear direction, know what they want, and maximize their input-output ratio.
Time and energy are their daggers and javelins, commanded by wisdom, invincible.
Another reason excellent people are excellent is that **they can break the gap between ideals and reality, achieving harmony between reality and ideals.**
Perhaps the current world is not what they imagined, but they have another world in their hearts (commonly called sentiment), and they believe that future life will definitely be like this.
I once heard this saying: In the eyes of capable people, ideals and reality are unified. (Though it sounds pretentious, it seems to make sense.)
They don't excessively lament over sentimental or nostalgic pasts, because in their eyes, there's nothing to lament about my past; what I wanted, I got; what I pursued, I achieved; my past ideals are my current life.
In "How the Steel Was Tempered," there is this saying:
> The most precious thing to a person is life, and life is only once. A person's life should be lived this way: when he looks back on the past, he will not regret wasting his years, nor be ashamed of doing nothing. When he is dying, he can say: My entire life and all my energy have been devoted to my most beloved cause—the struggle for the liberation of humanity.
As ordinary citizens, we naturally don't need to think about great causes like liberating humanity, but I hope that one day you can also find the direction of your life, understand yourself more clearly, liberate yourself, and liberate your natural attributes. Strive to make yourself more excellent and chase the ideal world in your heart.[4]
Notes:
[1] Clever people can also achieve twice the results with half the effort, but this is not analyzed here;
[2] There is no discrimination against farmers; it's just an example that hard work does not equal excellence;
[3] The actual situation in business and politics is certainly not as described in my text, but no further analysis is made here;
[4] Here, effort refers to purposeful, directional effort.
2
**How to learn and work more effectively to become more excellent?**
Before starting this section, I want to ramble a bit. I am self-taught, with limited knowledge, so my answer may not be very professional. If there are professionals, I hope you can point out shortcomings and progress together.
Also, I hope you don't label me as a successology or chicken soup master; that label is too heavy, and I'm afraid I can't bear it. Thank you. As for the results, let's see as we go; failure is not a big deal, I can handle it. Now let's get to the main text.
Success has methods, effort has skills, and most of the time these experiences and knowledge are hidden in the knowledge and experience of predecessors; we just lack discovery.
**Read "The 10,000 Hour Genius Theory" to deconstruct genius**
I admit that geniuses have some luck and talent, but many naive children have deified geniuses; they never grasp the essence and laws of things to see the story behind a person.
As the saying goes, "Three minutes on stage, ten years of practice off stage." Just as you see my answer and think it's not bad, you don't know that before this answer was posted, I wrote for 3-5 hours, and after posting, I revised it 3-5 times.
**Let me reiterate: don't look at the surface of things; try to grasp the underlying laws and essence behind things.**
Just as you see Zhihu as a learning and communication platform, others see it as a marketing community, entertainment platform, or social club.
Once you understand the platform rules of Zhihu, you can gain thousands of followers with just a few good answers or original articles; think about what you've gained here?
Of course, I'm not saying you're wrong, but you need to think clearly: what is your purpose here?
The same goes for genius. Once you understand the laws behind becoming a genius, you no longer mythologize genius but see the path to acquiring it.
I recommend "The 10,000 Hour Genius Theory" by Daniel Coyle. If you can expand this thinking, that would be great, such as: The Evolution of Goddesses? How to Become a Zhihu Big V?
**Do one thing at a time; slowing down may make you faster.—"The Pomodoro Technique"**
People often fall into a thinking trap: you want to chat with a girl, learn marketing, and write articles.
So you're flirting with a girl, listening to a video, and typing at the same time. Of course, this example may not be appropriate, but you definitely encounter similar situations in life: doing something halfway, then switching to another, and in the end, nothing is done well, and you inexplicably feel empty and irritable.
You think more is better, but it's useless; wanting everything, you end up with nothing.
Instead, those who follow a task list, doing things one by one, step by step, often go faster and farther.
When your mind calms down, you can take faster steps. According to my personal test, focusing on one thing at a time is 3-6 times more efficient than doing several things at once.
**Stop talking nonsense; read more, think more, do more. Repeat this process three to five times**[1]
Don't do useless work; think about what you've gained. You've been in beauty groups for so long; have you learned to flirt? You've been on Zhihu for so long; have you made money? (Of course, broadening your thinking and horizons is itself a gain.)
Focus on your goals and reflect on yourself at all times. **Calculate your input-output ratio often; otherwise, you'll always run off track.**
Of course, if I only said this, you would definitely bookmark this article, label it as chicken soup, or read it when you're free. And then nothing more...
You've taken so many notes and bookmarked so many good articles; what have you done? **Think! Do! Practice! Optimize!**
If I say and you listen, you can learn 0.1; if I say and you do, you can learn 0.3; if you learn on your own, think on your own, and do on your own, congratulations, you've graduated.[2] Don't be too rigid; ask others for advice and learn from the best.
I once heard this saying: What is the most effective learning method? Do it, then explain it to others, and teach others.
I spent about half a year learning copywriting, writing an article every two days on average, and constantly writing and revising.
I also spent about half a year learning marketing, testing, optimizing, and launching on various platforms.
And flirting: I joined groups, and every girl who entered became my WeChat friend. Although I'm still single, I can chat with them for an hour, just talking nonsense. [This is visible progress.]
**Of course, for someone without direction, no matter how much I talk, it's useless.**
This article is reprinted with the original author's authorization. Long press the QR code below to follow the author **Elephant Soldier** official account:
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