I use to wish I was born “smarter” or was naturally more “intelligent.” Growing up with an older sister, who naturally excelled in school, only made me feel worse about myself. I used to envy how easy it was for her to get good grades, and I use to think the ability to learn quickly was associated with intelligence.

Being very competitive and having natural sibling rivalry, this forced me to work hard. It wasn’t until I got out of high school, that I realized that I underestimated the skill of being a hard worker. I always thought that I had to work hard to compensate for my lack of natural ability.

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*Cheesing hard with da Rickster

The other day, I had the opportunity to chat with a friend I admire dearly. Growing up, I admired Rick’s intelligence, and I always wished I had his brain, because then life would be so much easier… right? When we got chatting about the topic of “being smart” vs “being a hard worker” he told me his struggles as a child. I was quite shocked that we both felt insecure about our intelligence. Growing up, he had the opposite experience that I had. His parents, teachers, and peers were constantly telling him how intelligent he was. The amounting pressure of having to live up to his name scared him. He would think to himself, “what if I actually tried really hard to do well, and I don’t succeed and live up to what everyone says I’m supposed to be.” His fear of failure prevented him from trying.

It wasn’t until he met a friend that forever changed his outlook on life, and helped kick his ass into gear. This friend of Rick, sucked at everything he did. It took him longer than anyone else to learn the skill, yet at the end of the day, he became the most skilled and the best at whatever he put his mind to. He would start of learning a new skill, butchering it, but he was very methodical in the way he learned. If one thing didn’t work, he would cross it off his list and try another technique. Maybe it wasn’t the most strategic way of learning, but by being so thorough and trying all options once, he soon learned the skill better than anyone else. He could see all angles to anything he worked on because he had spent more time than anyone else learning! What could have been his Achilles Heel turned out to help him find his biggest strength: being a hard worker.

This story just goes to show, how outstanding work ethics compounds overtime, and it will get you further in life than someone who bets their whole life and ability on intelligence. Success only comes with hard work, struggles and dedication, there are no short cuts.

So, I leave you with this quote by Will Smith, “You might be faster than me, you might be better looking than me, you might be more talented than me, you might beat me in 9 out of 10 categories. But if we get on the treadmill together, there’s two things that can happen: You either get off first or I’m gonna die.”
 
Feel free to share your thoughts about this topic below!

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Love,
Karen
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