We’re all brought up to believe that working hard will equal success. In school we’re taught that if we study harder, we’ll get better grades. In sports if we practice more, we’ll perform better and at work if you work harder, you’ll be more successful.
People confirm that too. Some successful people sometimes share that their success was attributed to their hard work which reinforces the very hypothesis that working hard = success.
I grew up with that belief but over the years I’ve begin to change my mind. When I’m interviewed by journalists they often ask me what’s my secret of success. Was it hard work, was it perseverance, what was it?
I agree that hard work and perseverance is part of the journey to success but it’s more of a requirement than a reason for success.
A lot of people work hard but yet not all of them are successful. How do you explain that if hard work = success?
My wife put this most aptly for me one day when I was whining to her about how tired I was after a long day of work.
She said
“You want to know who works hard? Our Filipino helper who spends 2 years away from her family in a foreign land and in these two years spends almost every waking hour working. That’s someone who works hard”.
That hit me. A lot more people out there work harder than I do. I can’t imagine anyone working harder than my Filipino helper who spends years away from home and literally lives at her workplace. So if hard work equals success why aren’t journalists lining up to interview her and ask her about her success?
The answer boils down to a number of things. Her circumstances that she was born in and the opportunities she was given. All these things are a factor of LUCK. Not hard work. I was born in better circumstances but I did nothing to earn or deserve it. I was just simply lucky.
I was given the opportunity to do business and yes I leaped at it when I saw it but some people don’t have the fortune of acting on an opportunity even if they see it.
Apart from the circumstances that we’re born from, luck plays a huge part in business too. Oil and commodity prices in Malaysia falling are causing the Ringgit to fall. That’s bad for many Malaysians and businesses too but on the other side glove manufacturers are posting stellar results because they sell in USD and their raw material prices have come down. That’s luck. Perhaps one day their luck will change but for now they have that luck and they’re doing well for it.
I certainly don’t speak for every entrepreneur out there but if anyone asks me why I’m successful, my answer is that it’s not because I work harder than anyone else. Yes I work hard… but more importantly, I’ve been lucky.
Timothy Tiah – Co-Founder of Colony, Kuala Lumpur Co-Working Space