To work hard or to work smart?

A couple of times people have told me to work smart and not to work hard. But is there any difference between the two? I have always considered working hard as a core pillar of any achievement. You have to go to school, get a good grade, look for a job and when you get one you ensure that you meet the specified targets. And in all these you have to put a little more effort, burn the midnight oil, be tough, sweat in order to make it. 

They will push you, claiming that life isn’t life without working hard. ‘Life without hard work is a life without purpose’, one will rebuke. But when you fail to meet your targets even by a small margin, does that mean you didn’t work hard, does that mean you didn’t do your best or maybe you are just a mere failure?

And on working smart, others will say it’s about making smart choices, the right decisions and taking the right steps. How fast you climb that ladder determines how smart you are. They will further say that those people you see out there, the ones with big cars, big houses, nice jobs and lots of money are the ones that we call smart. 

But in my honest opinion the people we see out there, those successful people ranging from business to politics to talent-wise, worked hard, very hard that one cannot even start to comprehend. They had to start from somewhere, take an initiative, put lots of time and effort to be where you see them today. Oh yes, the ones that you call your idols and role models. So what are you doing to be there too, to be at the top?

But ideally speaking the two are inseparable, they are like twins. You have to work hard to be somewhere, to meet your goals and when you do, you set new ones, as you grow you will be forced to make smart choices and decisions. Then you play smart! You cannot literally wake up one morning and say today am going to make a smart choice, without talking about the word ‘hard’, else you will be saying that for the rest of your life. 

So no matter what you do, do your best, be strong, and work hard to achieve what you want. But in the process, strive to be smart, make only smart moves. Work hard to be smart, work hard to make smart choices, work hard to set smart goals, work hard to make smart decisions and work hard. And in case you make mistakes, be smart enough to learn from them.