Motivational Stories of Hard Work Leading to Prosperity

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

2 hours ago, RobinReborn said:

Rand had enough money to live comfortably for the time it took her to write Atlas.  I don't, neither do most people.

RR,

Rand certainly did not have enough money to live comfortably when she wrote We The Living. She even did restaurant work as a waitress and God knows what else back then. Rand lived through the Great Depression, for God's sake. She used to live at the YWCA in LA when she wrote her first stories.

I don't like to channel Rand, but I am very comfortable speculating that if someone had asked her, she would have said writing Atlas Shrugged was the hardest work she ever did in life. In fact, I think there's a quote to that effect about Galt's speech.

If your problem is that you need to work at a menial job or at something you don't like to make ends meet, I can resonate with that and might even have some stories you would like. But not so long as you call that hard work and not call great achievements hard work. That's just inaccurate and way too much self-pity for my view of life.

Besides, someone who thinks like that will never in a million years achieve anything great once (or if) they get money. They will spend it partying or wallow in guilt for crap like white privilege or male privilege or other social justice class warfare propaganda. But they will not work hard to achieve greatness. They don't believe in it once they have money. It's against their religion.  

Michael

[RobinReborn]

I know Rand worked hard during the earlier part of her career.  I'd say that's when her work was better.  The problem with success is that it can distort your view of what's good, you can work hard on something that's worse.

 

Some great achievements are hard work, but some are not.  The relationship between hard work and achievement isn't always direct.  Plenty of people have been very successful without that much hard work and others have worked hard and not succeeded.  

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

RR,

You have the oddest view of work I have come across so far.

In fact, in terms of a precise definition, I don't even know what you mean by work.

From the way you sound, work is what you do, not what others do.

Michael

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Here's a human universal about hard work and greatness. Those who achieve greatness generally have a "burning desire" within them. 

That desire is fundamental, not their social status when they start out.

Those without that desire can work hard all their lives in the manner a horse works hard pulling a plough, but they never get anywhere. If someone doesn't give them wealth, they stay financially modest or poor.

The secret is to learn how to get that desire, not how to point the finger at great achievers and diminish their efforts.

Michael

[BaalChatzaf]

3 hours ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

Here's a human universal about hard work and greatness. Those who achieve greatness generally have a "burning desire" within them. 

That desire is fundamental, not their social status when they start out.

Those without that desire can work hard all their lives in the manner a horse works hard pulling a plough, but they never get anywhere. If someone doesn't give them wealth, they stay financially modest or poor.

The secret is to learn how to get that desire, not how to point the finger at great achievers and diminish their efforts.

Michael

There are those who are quite content to be comfortable and not in want.  For them getting rich is not what makes them go.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

11 hours ago, BaalChatzaf said:

There are those who are quite content to be comfortable and not in want.  For them getting rich is not what makes them go.

Bob,

There is nothing wrong with this. However, these are not folks who achieve greatness except by accident.

Besides, RR is discussing money as his main focus. I am discussing greatness (great human achievements, which RR claims do not need hard work unless one is poor).

Being satisfied to be a cog in the machine is OK, but it will not provide you with a burning desire to be a prime mover.

Here is a thought about money that only occurred to me recently. Every penny you own came from someone else. And if it came from someone else, that indicates a relationship, however close or distant. Some kinds of money situations bring a lot of crappy people in your life. Other kinds bring people who are a lot more aligned with what you want to do and be.

If you take just any money from anyone anywhere, you are setting up your social relationships to be a crapshoot. You need filters on receiving money if you are to find a path to a burning desire to be a producer. It seems like it should be the contrary, that you need filters on spending. But, from my experience, if you don't properly filter receiving, you never get out of a poor situation, not productively. You never get enough money to budget correctly.

So one of the main secrets of a burning desire for greatness is to surround yourself with people you want to be like, or at the very least who do not irritate the crap out of you, and establish money relationships with them. 

(Thieves and dictators also have burning desires, and these desires do burn, mostly for the wrong things, but those folks are not the point here.  ) 

Michael

[BaalChatzaf]

2 hours ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

Bob,

There is nothing wrong with this. However, these are not folks who achieve greatness except by accident.

 

Being satisfied to be a cog in the machine is OK, but it will not provide you with a burning desire to be a prime mover.

Being a prime-mover will mean that one will not settle for mere cogsmanship.  However desiring to achieve greatness or distinction is no guarantee that one will succeed.  There is always the matter of talent, opportunity and luck. 

[Brant Gaede]

What is your desired profession? Is there much money in it? Good luck with money looking for a profession.

--Brant

got passion?

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Oh my God, I just got the craziest urge to be wicked.

First a story about perseverance. I got this off listening to people on the motivational circuit. There are several variations floating around.

There was once a miner in California during the gold rush who dug at a mine for several years. It was hard work. Brutal and hot. It wore him down. He was tired, disgusted, disheartened, his body ached all over and, ultimately, he just wanted out of the whole thing. So he offered the mine for sale.

One day he found some greenhorns interested. He told them tall tales about the riches they could expect. They were not completely foolish, so he didn't get the price he asked for, but they they did buy it for a large sum of good solid money. Much more, the miner thought, than the mine was worth as he chuckled to himself for being clever enough to offload a turkey. He left the area quickly before they discovered the dud they bought..

The newcomers to the mining trade were enthusiastic, but they didn't know where to begin. So they decided to follow the tunnel the original owner had dug. Without knowing what they were doing, they started digging at the end and after going about a foot, they struck gold. A mother lode. The biggest in the state up to then. They became outrageously wealthy.

So think about it. The original miner dug all those years for nothing and stopped twelve inches from his goal. Twelve inches. He didn't persist. And you? Don't make his mistake. Keep digging until you strike your mother lode.

The end.

Now for a visual commentary.

Michael

[BaalChatzaf]

6 hours ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

Oh my God, I just got the craziest urge to be wicked.

First a story about perseverance. I got this off listening to people on the motivational circuit. There are several variations floating around.

There was once a miner in California during the gold rush who dug at a mine for several years. It was hard work. Brutal and hot. It wore him down. He was tired, disgusted, disheartened, his body ached all over and, ultimately, he just wanted out of the whole thing. So he offered the mine for sale.

One day he found some greenhorns interested. He told them tall tales about the riches they could expect. They were not completely foolish, so he didn't get the price he asked for, but they they did buy it for a large sum of good solid money. Much more, the miner thought, than the mine was worth as he chuckled to himself for being clever enough to offload a turkey. He left the area quickly before they discovered the dud they bought..

The newcomers to the mining trade were enthusiastic, but they didn't know where to begin. So they decided to follow the tunnel the original owner had dug. Without knowing what they were doing, they started digging at the end and after going about a foot, they struck gold. A mother lode. The biggest in the state up to then. They became outrageously wealthy.

So think about it. The original miner dug all those years for nothing and stopped twelve inches from his goal. Twelve inches. He didn't persist. And you? Don't make his mistake. Keep digging until you strike your mother lode.

The end.

Now for a visual commentary.

Michael

Dig till  you hit the Mother Lode  or die trying...

[RobinReborn]

I don't think that hard work and intelligence are the same thing.  Nor does hard work guarantee success or money.

 

Hard work is part of major human achievements, but it isn't the only part and in some cases it isn't necessary.

 

I'd define hard work to be persistent, consistent dedication towards a goal.  You do it because you value the goal, not because you value the work.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

12 minutes ago, RobinReborn said:

Hard work is part of major human achievements, but it isn't the only part and in some cases it isn't necessary.

RR,

If you are talking about someone giving you an achievement to put your name on, or blind luck, I agree.

If you are talking about something else like a developed skill, good luck with making a major achievement. In such a case, you don't understand what it takes. You would be evaluating before identifying correctly.

Michael