Working "smarter not harder" is a popular saying, but it's also a myth. The truth is that the magic to truly making things happen for your business is in working smarter and harder.
It's tempting to believe in a silver bullet or easy way out, but those either don't exist or aren't worth pursuing.
Yes, it is important to work smarter than we have in the past but success also requires that we work harder than we may have in the past. As Malcolm Gladwell says, "people at the top don't work harder than you; they work much, much harder."
Anyone who tells you that they achieved success by being lazy or working "just 1.5 days a week" is lying – either about the laziness or, more likely, about the success.
Of course you should set healthy boundaries when it comes to "work-life balance." Just set them with the full understanding that within those boundaries, you may be working more efficiently, but you will also be working harder than you ever have before. It is not either/or, it is both/and.
Sustainable success requires smart, hard work.
The original version of this post was published January 2012
