39 Best Hard Work Quotes to Fire Up Your Success

Updated Jan 10, 2023.
hard-work-quotes

Hard work is the one thing you cannot separate from success. In every success story, you will hear about how consistent and intentional hard work played a vital part in achieving success.

But let's not pretend that hard work is easy. In fact, it wouldn't be called “hard work” if it wasn't very hard. It is not for quitters. Quality hard work is what separates the talented individual from the successful one. It tests your determination and commitment to your goals.

Entrepreneurship requires a very large amount of passionate, hard work. Without it, you cannot succeed as a business owner or creative. However, not all days of hard work are productive. It is in these unproductive days you need to hold tight to your zeal and enthusiasm.

In this article, I have put together the best hard work quotes. These hard work quotes will help you boost your hustle spirit.

Best Hard Work Quotes to Boost Your Hustle Spirit

01
Developing a good work ethic is key. Apply yourself at whatever you do, whether you're a janitor or taking your first summer job, because that work ethic will be reflected in everything you do in life.
– Tyler Perry

Your work ethic is that strong value that motivates you to work harder and better. In fact, it is part of the top skills that are needed for productive work and high performance. You need a strong work ethic to work efficiently and effectively.

Examples of strong work ethics include:

  • Honesty
  • Dependability
  • Dedication and determination
  • Integrity
  • Professionalism

It doesn't matter what position you hold in your organization. What matters is how effective you are. Developing a good work ethic will encourage you to work harder and improve your work performance. With a positive work ethic, you have a higher chance of advancing your career and life and greater job satisfaction.

02
The difference between greed and ambition is that a greedy person desires things he isn't prepared to work for.
– Habeeb Akande

Nothing good comes easy. However, you are greedy, if you desire to benefit from what you didn't work for or put any effort into. The problem with greed is that it is never satisfied. It has a huge appetite but is never willing to work for what it wants. You cannot expect to take all the glory when someone else has done all the work.

Many challenges come with being an entrepreneur. So, to become an excellent entrepreneur, you must be willing and prepared to face your challenges head-on.

Challenges For Success
Source: Neil Patel

The greatest satisfaction is the one that comes from doing the work and seeing the results you desire. Therefore, if you want to enjoy success and other good things in life, then be prepared to work. It takes hard work, determination, and perseverance to succeed.

03
Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.
— Unknown

This is one of the most intriguing hard work quotes I love. A lot of people see talent as the surest way to success. Well, while talent is good, it cannot guarantee success. This may sound harsh, but it is true — talent is nothing special.

Let me explain.

Talent is common. Everybody in the world has one talent or another. Even those who believe that they have no talent do have. It's just that they haven't put in the work to find what their passion is.

However, your natural talent is not enough to succeed. In fact, it is on the bottom list of factors needed to succeed. Not all great singers are going to make it to billboards. Likewise, not every good baker will hit over $500 million in sales or have a successful baking business.

If you want to succeed and play hard in the future, be willing to work hard now. If you want to rely on your natural talent alone, someone else with a passion for work will take your spot. In the end, when you really look at it, you will find that talent is cheaper than table salt.

Another thing cheaper than table salt is talk. Talking without action is synonymous with doing nothing at all. “I will dedicate 3 hours every day to studying about sales” is not action. It doesn't mean you have done it. You have only said you will do it

While you talk, make sure you work. It is only then can your words have an effect.

04
No one understands and appreciates the American Dream of hard work leading to material rewards better than a non-American.
– Anthony Bourdain

There are some privileges you cannot access without hard work. You want opportunities for success and prosperity. Be prepared to work for it. Everyone desires the ideal American dream — the happy way of living that is achieved by working hard and becoming successful — but only a few achieve it. These are the ones that were ready to work for it.

05
I would rather risk wearing out than rusting out.
– Theodore Roosevelt

“Rusting out” in this context means getting old and obsolete due to no use at all. Every chance you take to work hard towards your goals brings you closer to achieving them.

You never know how the situation will end or what results you will get if you don't do anything. The worst regret you will have is not taking your chance even when you had it. If you try, the worst that can happen is that you fail. When you fail, you try again with a different approach.

It is better to risk wearing out than giving your energy and time and being proud of all you have achieved so far than not achieving anything at all.

06
Men die of boredom, psychological conflict, and disease. They do not die of hard work.
– David Ogilvy

There is no success without hard work, especially in business. There are a thousand and one businesses like yours, vying for the number 1 spot in the industry. Just because you launched a product, gave it a fancy design, and a fancy name, doesn't mean people will instantly feel attracted to you.

There is something called brand loyalty. You must prove to your target audience why they should leave the brand they have known for many years and trust you. You can only do that through an effective market.

However, you can't just start marketing without identifying your target audience, unique selling point, and the best marketing strategy. There is so much work needed to grow a business. If you are not ready to work, you are sadly not ready to succeed in your business.

07
There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work.
– Calvin Coolidge

You must always work on learning to stay at the top of your game. A growth and learning mindset is one of the top characteristics of successful entrepreneurs. You study the market's latest trends, new ways to attract better clients, the latest technology in your industry, etc.

The best business people have something in common — they are always reading.

After studying the habits of various top people in business, I discovered that they all have a personal bookshelf that contains all the books they read. The average number of books read by CEOs is 60. This means about five books per month.

Why do these businessmen read? They read to improve their business intellect, develop their skills, and build their mindset. Reading is another form of hard work. Not everyone loves to read because it is not so pleasurable, but it is important.

If you want to grow, you should put in the effort and be prepared to make sacrifices. Be ready to read the best business books to grow your business mindset.

08
If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time.
— Steve Jobs, co-Founder of Apple Inc

We have all gotten used to seeing the results of success, the brighter side of things. However, you don't see the path that led to success, which is the many years of hard work, failure, and perseverance. It doesn't happen overnight.

Every successful person you see, a tech founder, a baker, a project manager, or even a blogger, took years of practice, failure, and constant learning to get to the top. Success is attractive, but people fail to take notice of the path they took to reach it.

Look beyond the flashy cars, club memberships, and Forbes ratings. You should only focus on the real success stories of these entrepreneurs and learn from their failures and steps to success. Then use their lessons as a guide to your own success journey.

09
Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard.
— Tim Notke

As fancy and attractive as talent looks, it needs hard work to succeed. The formula for success is hard work + determination, + perseverance. There is no “talent” in the equation. A talented individual can only move beyond the ordinary if he works hard.

Without hard work, talent is just basic and mediocre. It can only gather attention for only a very limited time. There are over a hundred people with the same talents as you, probably even less talented. But they succeed because of the work and dedication to their craft.

Developing the necessary skills for hard work will give you an edge over other talented individuals. You become excellent in your craft. But you should also know that excellence doesn't happen overnight.

Hard work encourages personal development and presents growth opportunities. You become better than you started and are ready to climb the ladder of success. However you want to see it, hard work beats talent every time.

10
If a man is called to be a street sweeper. He should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all hosts of heaven and earth pause to say; Here lives a great sweeper who did his job well.
-Martin Luther King. Jr

Hard work is an important ingredient for success. But in hard work, the quality of work you put in determines your result. Excellence and hard work go hand-in-hand.

Without excellence, hard work is only labor with no productivity. Therefore, while working hard, ensure you strive for excellence. Excellence boosts your productivity.

We all want to make money and enjoy a free life of no rules from annoying bosses. Also, we want to live a fulfilled life on our terms. However, the path to this dream is the quality of work we put into it. People reward excellence (with hard work).

11
I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and miss. I've failed repeatedly in my life, which is why I succeed.
— Michael Jordan, a Black professional basketball player

Success is more than just how you succeed but also how many times you fail but still get up on your feet. One of the best ways to stay focused on the goal is to surround yourself with positive people.

The quality of people you surround yourself with plays a vital role in your journey to success. They are the people who cheer you on and boost your morale or the people who discourage you from moving forward. Be around people who encourage you to focus on your strengths, not your weaknesses.

Also, surround yourself with hardworking people, people with a growth mindset and willingness to keep hustling. Their stories will encourage you to keep aiming for the top no matter how many times you fall.

12
Life without endeavor is like entering a jewel mine and coming out with empty hands.
– Japanese Proverbs

Purpose and direction in hard work. Your goal is your reason for working hard. It is the purpose and direction of your hard work; your motivating factor to work hard. You keep working hard, never relenting because you want to achieve something.

But there is something about goal-setting that people miss. When setting goals, make sure they are specific. Specificity is one of the characteristics of smart goals. You can't go far if you do not know exactly what you want to achieve.

For example, you may be working hard to create a good and attractive business plan, and your goal is to attract investors. Now the problem with this goal is that it is very vague. It is not specific because you might create a plan that attracts just one or two potential investors.

The right goal will be: To attract at least ten active financial investors to believe in my business and support me.

It sounds too long but guess what? It is very clear, precise, and specific. You know exactly what you are working hard for. So when you want to give up, you have to look at your clear goals again and measure how far you have gone towards achieving them.

13
Destiny is for losers. It's just a stupid excuse to wait for things to happen instead of making them happen.
— Blair Waldorf

One of the most absurd lies I have heard is: “Success will come to me if it's meant for me. I won't strive for it. It will come by itself.”

This statement is so false that I laugh and wonder whenever I hear it.

It is nobody's “natural” destiny to be a success or failure. It is up to you to choose your path. If all the successful people believed in succeeding only by destiny, we would have nothing more than five people in the history of the world.

If you want something to happen, you go out there to turn the tides in your favor. However, it's not easy to turn the tides. This is where hard work and perseverance come into action.

An Entrepreneurs Guide to the Big Issues
Source: HBR

Motivational Hard Work Quotes for the Right Attitude to Work

Your attitude towards work affects the quality of work you produce. It reflects your beliefs and perceptions towards work. You cannot give a negative attitude and expect to produce positive results. Even though the hard work process may not be so pleasant, having the right attitude will encourage you to bounce back up when challenges arise.

14
I never viewed myself as particularly talented. Where I excel is a ridiculous, sickening work ethic. While the other guy's sleeping, I'm working.
— Will Smith.

One way to have a positive attitude about working hard is to maintain enthusiasm about the results. Being enthusiastic about your business goals will help you remain on the wheels of hard work.

You eagerly engage in activities that contribute to the growth and development of your business. The most famous hard work quotes show you the importance of genuine hard work and perseverance.

When you achieve your desired results, set higher results. Challenges keep the adrenaline popping and the excitement going. Your goal is to be better than your current state.

15
The difference between try and triumph is just a little umph!
– Marvin Phillips

The distance between you and success is effort. How much effort you put in determines how soon you get to success. Thanks to technology, growing a small business has become less exhausting than it was over 15 years ago.

Imagine writing and sending thousands of emails in one day or struggling to put your billboard ad up for passersby to see. Now, you can send thousands of emails in just one click or promote your ad online for thousands of people to see around the world.

However, just because technology has made it easier doesn't mean you don't have to work hard. Hard work has always been (and still is) a major ingredient to success — in business and in life, generally. There is always a reason to work hard. To be the best, you have to fight for that position because over 100 businesses like yours are vying for that position.

When you feel like giving up, always remember that every effort you make brings you closer to your goals.

16
This is the real secret of life – to be completely engaged with what you do in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.
– Alan Watts

Another sure way to encourage a positive attitude is to encourage a positive work environment.

Statistics show that you are 13x more likely to be productive when you are happy. If you are not happy at work, it will negatively affect your productivity level.

Don't take the work too seriously and beat yourself when you don't meet set goals. You will realize over time that the work is frustrating and nothing is exciting to look forward to.

17
If you work hard, and you're kind, amazing things will happen.
– Conan O'Brien

Have you ever heard the saying, “attitude is everything”? This is so true. Your attitude affects the way you handle challenges and failure.

Let's look at these two examples — an entrepreneur, leader, or project manager with a negative attitude towards work always complains at any sight of a challenge. This person is always lazy and not proactive because he is not enthusiastic or invested in the business.

However, a person with a positive mindset wants to go the extra mile just to see that every goal is met and the problem is solved. You will notice that this entrepreneur or leader is more productive and receptive.

The biggest challenge for SMB entrepreneurs is living with uncertainties about owning a budget. But, if you don't take action and work hard, you may never know the opportunities ahead of you.

Biggest Challenges of Being a Business Owner
Source: Score
18
There is no time for cut-and-dried monotony. There is time for work. And time for love. That leaves no other time.
— Coco Chanel

Time waits for no one. The more you waste time on useless things, the farther you are from success. It takes integrity and commitment to stay true to hard work. You cannot cheat your way to success. It is impossible. Be ready to sacrifice your comfort for long hours of learning and work.

19
A dream does not become a reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and hard work.
— Colin Powell

Here is something almost no one will tell you — the extra secret ingredient to success is consistency. Consistency is that secret ingredient that blends the other ingredients and makes them work their magic.

You cannot be determined or hard-working for just a short period and relent. Consistency means staying determined and encouraged throughout the process.

Consistency is your ability to maintain your enthusiasm and stamina throughout the journey to success, even in the face of challenges. It builds good work habits and excellence. Consistent hard work leads to better and clearer opportunities for growth and advancement.

20
Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.
— Oprah Winfrey

A sure way to develop a positive mindset is through meditation. Meditate on success. You are filling your mind with countless possibilities and positivity by meditating on success.

Employers and leaders always encourage their employees to focus on success. Focus your mind on only the things that matter — growth, positive results, excellence, and success.

You can start your meditation journey by meditating on powerful success quotes. Meditating on these quotes daily will keep you active in pursuing your goals. Many people give up because their mind is too shallow and cannot contain thoughts about success. Your ability and willingness to deepen your mind makes you exceptional.

21
The only way to build a strong work ethic is getting your hands dirty.
— Alex Spanos

Anything worthwhile requires effort to build. Every great idea comes with a vision (goal), and it takes equal efforts to turn the vision into a reality. A perfect example to use is Apple Incorporated.

Everyone is talking about how amazing the iPhone and other Apple products are. However, only a few people are knowledgeable about the efforts Steve Jobs put into it. Although he wasn't the creator, Steve was the brain, and he worked so hard to make Apple one of the biggest tech companies in the world today.

Apple Inc was not built in a day. Growing the company took years with lots of blood, sweat, and tears. But do you know that no one would be talking of Apple and its amazing technologies if Steve and his team had just given up?

Today, over 1 billion people are using Apple devices (or at least have Apple devices in their homes or offices).

Great ideas take patience, dedication, and resilience to become a reality. And when these ideas finally become a reality, they will attract people for years to come.

22
Without hard work, nothing grows but weeds.
— Gordon B. Hinckley

You cannot grow far without hard work. A parent makes intentional efforts and sacrifices to give the child the right parental care. Likewise, your business needs all the intentional care, efforts, and sacrifice as an entrepreneur.

You spend long days and nights reading as many business books as possible, studying the market and consumer behavior, and having long, boring meetings.

However, these not-so-fun activities are taking you closer to your success. They build you up and prepare you for handling even bigger challenges. The higher you go, the more challenging the situations may seem. But this means you are closer to success than you were months ago.

23
Winners embrace hard work. They love the discipline of it, the trade-off they’re making to win. Losers, on the other hand, see it as punishment. And that’s the difference.
— Lou Holtz

The fact that you have failed doesn't make you a failure. What makes you a failure is when you give up on your journey and decide to settle for less.

Failures are those people who decide to sit back and wait for situations to change. They are the people who are not willing to put in the hard work needed for success.

Failures (losers) hate challenges.

Challenges are there to help you grow. They create opportunities for advancement. For example, if you encounter a sales challenge, you study sales books and even take courses, so you know how to solve the problem. With the knowledge you have incurred, you can solve similar challenges that may arise.

24
On any given Monday, I am one sale closer and one idea away from being a millionaire.
— Larry D. Turner

It is no secret that Mondays are unpleasant. Statistics show that workers are 30% less productive on a Monday. While this is not surprising, especially since Monday means more work after a relaxing weekend, many people don't know that it is the best day to start executing your strategy for the week.

Let me explain.

Mondays come after the weekend. During the weekend, you have had time to relax and revitalize your brain to plan your next move. Now your brain is not busy with so many activities; you have the time to set your weekly goals and create an action plan to achieve them.

Mondays are the best day of the week to launch your plan into action. With enough time, you can handle any challenges that may creep up and meet your set goal.

Instead of feeling like Mondays are the worst days, develop a positive attitude towards it by meditating on the best Monday motivation quotes. Utilizing the power of Mondays makes you more productive and a step ahead of your colleagues. However, growing used to Monday work takes a lot of discipline.

25
People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those doing it.
— George Bernard Shaw, playwright

To develop the right attitude to work and overcome naysayers, you must develop a good hustle mindset.

It would help if you never let negative people influence your decisions. Negative people share negative thoughts; negative thoughts cause fear. And, fear causes stagnancy and low motivation.

You need to surround yourself with successful entrepreneurs and leaders as an entrepreneur or leader. There is a lot you can learn from their success stories. The more you hear stories and advice from people, you have reached the level you want to reach, and you feel motivated to keep working hard.

Quotes On Hard Work And Achievements To Help You Reach Your Goals

These famous hard work quotes are from successful individuals who have seen the benefits of genuine hard work.

26
Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.
— Pele

Hard work sets you on the path of excellence. Excellence is what separates the extraordinary from the ordinary (mediocre). The goal is to become someone people want to learn from.

No one wants to learn from an unsuccessful person. Nothing is intriguing or interesting. Therefore, to be the best, you must be willing to do what it takes to be the best, even if it means making countless sacrifices.

27
Self-belief and hard work will always earn you success.
– Virat Kohil

One not-so-secret reason people don't leave their comfort zone is their lack of self-confidence. They don't believe they can succeed outside their comfort zone, so they stay boxed up for years while others succeed.

The lack of self-confidence can make you feel disconnected from your business. It also causes low self-esteem.

To boost your self-confidence, you need to focus on your strengths, not your weaknesses. Focus on what you can do and what you can't. But it doesn't mean you should ignore your weaknesses. Identifying your weaknesses will help you know the areas you need help in and work on them.

Also, develop a habit of saying positive words to yourself every day. Don't ever believe that every effort you put into achieving your dreams is all in vain. As you focus on positive things, you also speak positive words. The human mind is always designed to register words you hear continually.

So the more you say positive words to yourself, your ears hear them, and your brain registers them and starts believing in them. In turn, your belief system forms your mindset, and your mindset controls your actions.

28
What you don’t sweat out when you’re young will turn into tears when you’re old.
— Japanese Proverb

Working during your youth for a secured future. A popular saying goes, “Work now, play later.” I love these simple hard work quotes. They help explain the importance and benefits of hustling right.

People work hard mainly to create a better future for themselves. However, what you should know is that the quality of work you put in now determines the quality of your future. Poor work equals poor results and a poor future.

Likewise, excellent work provides a strong opportunity for a better and more satisfying future.

29
Without hard work and discipline, it is difficult to be a top professional.
— Jahangir Khan

It doesn't matter what position you hold in your organization. What matters is the quality of results and the value you give. Excellence thrives on hard work and discipline; there is no magic to it. Excellence comes from continued trial and error. It is only those who put in the work that can achieve excellence.

Without hard work, you cannot grow your talent to excellence or become a top professional. Top professionals influence and motivate others to grow to their level. This is because people are attracted to excellence and its results.

While everyone admires excellence, sadly, not everyone can be excellent. Excellence can only be achieved through discipline. Be prepared to take risks without worrying about your abilities. Worry hinders you from seeing opportunities to grow and makes you focus on your limitations.

Commit to dedicating your time and energy to improving yourself mentally and physically.

30
Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come.
— Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

I have mentioned earlier that consistency is the vital ingredient to success that mixes other key ingredients.

Now here is how to develop consistency in your hard work:

  • Be determined. Developing consistency takes a lot of time and energy.
  • Focus on one thing (goal/activity) at a time. Don't let your mind be too crowded with lots of thoughts and activities to do.
  • Develop a success mindset. A success mindset is a positive mindset. Believe that your efforts count.
  • Try and fail. It can take months to change your habits permanently. So be prepared to try and fail, but you will learn if you are determined.

While building your consistency level, remember that it takes time and discipline to be consistent. You cannot develop consistency overnight, especially if you have never had it.

31
“He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.”
— Muhammad Ali, Black professional boxer and activist

Challenges are important for your growth. They shape your entrepreneurial mindset. Without challenges, there will be no chance for development.

Many people don't know this, but the fear of failure makes you fail. This is because fearing to fail keeps you rooted in one spot, afraid to take the next step. Your mind becomes filled with lots of negative “What ifs.” What if it doesn’t work?

Well, what if it does work?

The best way to beat negative thoughts and words is to counter them with positive ones. Focus on the best hustle quotes to help set your mind on hard work and success.

32
You are your greatest asset. Put your time, effort, and money into training.
— Tom Hopkins

Focus on personal development. This means you must focus on developing your skills and abilities to be the best in your field.

Your strength and greatest weapon are in you. If you don't grow, you will be unable to reach the point you want.

Hard work shapes your mindset and your abilities. However, I must warn you that it is not as easy as you think. You need to develop a high level of resilience so you can easily bounce back when you get knocked out.

The moment you give up, everything ends. So you have to keep going. It doesn't matter how long it takes to get there. With the right tools, you can reach wherever you want to go.

Most people give up on success because they want something fast and easy. But the problem with fast and easy is that it will fade over time. Something bigger and better will take all the attention. So, instead of focusing on what would only last for a short time, give your energy to long-term results and benefits.

33
There will be obstacles. There will be doubters. There will be mistakes. But with hard work, there are no limits.
— Michael Phelps

However, the first and most important thing to do on your success journey is to define what success means to you. How you define success may differ completely from how your neighbor defines it. For example, your definition of success can be establishing a top business that provides environmental and societal value. Another person's definition of success could be to create a top Fortune 500 business.

Defining what success means to you and what goals you want to achieve clears the path to creating a well-thought-out strategy. Creating a strategy makes it easier to know the tools you need to achieve your goals, the number and quality of team members you need, a set time frame, and a budget.

You should also determine if your goal is short-term (for example, to raise 1 million in sales within three months), mid-term (for example, to create a new product or service within five years), or long-term (for example, to expand the business to other geographic locations in 10 years). Long-term goals require more planning because they take a longer time to achieve.

34
There is no royal flower-strewn path to success. And if there is, I have not found it, for whatever success I have attained has resulted from much hard work and many sleepless nights.
— Madam C.J. Walker

There is absolutely no easy or fast lane to success. I find it funny when I see lessons on “The six easiest ways to succeed.” I see it as the biggest sham of all. Unfortunately, people pay thousands of dollars to learn the “fastest” way to success.

Well, the only (and surest) way to success is through hard, smart work. You must be ready to get your hands dirty with work if you ever want to look success in the eye. There is absolutely no soft, work-free path. Instead of waiting for an elevator that would probably lead nowhere, be ready to climb the ladder up to where success is.

There would be more successful people every day if there were an easy way to success. Over half (if not all) of the world's population will be successful. Success will lose its value because it is so available.

Top Smart Work Quotes To Help You Work More Efficiently

There is a difference between being busy and being productive. The best way to work hard is to work smart. Working smart means putting your creative efforts to work effectively and efficiently. This section of hard work quotes shows you key ways to work smart and become more productive in your work.

35
We think, mistakenly, that success is the result of the amount of time we put in at work, instead of the quality of time we put in.
— Ariana Huffington

There will always be a big difference between quantity and quality. The amount of time you work is different from how productive you are during this period. When breaking out in your career, especially as a freelancer, most clients don't care about how long you have worked. They want to see what you have done. These people evaluate the quality of your work to determine if you are a perfect fit for who they want.

How Much of your day is spent on productive work tasks that make an impact
Source: heavychef

Every hour or minute you spend working, ensure it is worthwhile. Working 8 hours straight with no direction or focus is nothing compared to working 2 hours of focused and passionate work.

Measure your results, not your time. The results are what determine excellence, not the amount of time. Life rewards you with the quality of work and time you put into your goals. Hard work is not for the weak-minded or the lazy minds. It is for strong-willed individuals eager to create something great.

36
I was lucky. I grew up knowing that hard work and smart work impact results more than being passionate about something.
— Mark Cuban

Smart work produces better results than mindless hard work. A good way to work smart is to chunk up smaller tasks. It helps you to become more efficient and effective. You use the same resources — time, energy, and money — to solve more than one problem.

The faster you solve problems, the more you advance to the same level. Genuine, smart work leads to success. However, you should create a positive work-life balance for yourself.

Also, learn to outsource. There is a limit to the work you can do as a human being. You cannot grow a large or successful business alone, and neither can you solve every problem alone. Learn to get help. By getting help, I mean delegating responsibilities. For example, you can hire a sales manager to take care of the sales aspect while you focus on the financial aspect of your business or create more ways for your business to grow.

37
Work smart. Get things done. No nonsense. Move fast.
— Susan Wojcicki

However, know when to take a break and relax. One major cause of burnout is failure to take care of your body. As an entrepreneur or leader, your health matters more than you think. The human body can only work hard nonstop to a certain extent before it beats down.

You cannot work so hard to attain success only to spend your remaining life in a hospital. Hard work doesn't mean you should work yourself like a slave without care for your health. While you should work hard, you should also work smart.

Develop healthy living habits, do not overthink, and practice meditating every morning and mid-afternoon. Meditation helps you set your mind at ease and focus on what is important. You detoxify yourself of negative energy and focus on building a healthy work environment for you and your team.

38
This is the crisis! Difficulty getting credit, slow growth, high unemployment, and low consumer confidence-these are challenges entrepreneurs can overcome with hard work, smart risk, and tenacious teamwork. This is precisely what entrepreneurs do!
— Oliver DeMille

Entrepreneurship takes a lot of sacrifices and intentional work. It is like an emotional roller-coaster. One time you accomplish a goal and are so proud of yourself. The next time, you face a challenge and fail woefully. It seems like you should give up. Then the next time, you are back on your feet but only to fall again.

But all challenges can be overcome with smart, hard work, and determination. It doesn't matter how often you fall or how slow the growth is. You can overcome all challenges as long as you are focused and smart with your work. No tough situation can pull you down unless you want it to happen.

39
I have discovered there are only a handful of good ideas in the world. You already know them. You have heard them your entire life. Here are some main keys to being more successful: Take personal responsibility. Things change, so be flexible. Work smart and work hard. Serve others well. Be nice to others. Be optimistic. Have goals; want something big for yourself. Stay focused. Keep learning. Become excellent at what you do. Trust your gut. When in doubt, take action. Earn all you can. Save all you can. Give all you can. Enjoy all you've got. Above all, keep it simple.
— Larry Winget

This simple yet deep quote is one of the best hard work quotes you can ever find on working hard and smart. Stay focused and trust your gut. Always know when to stay in the game or step down and try a different approach. As a success-focused person, quitting must never be in your dictionary.

Additionally, always keep learning. Times and trends are always changing, so you must be updated on the latest news in your niche/industry.

Finally, take the risk. You never know how it might end if you don't take action. Trying and failing is better than not trying at all. There are many amazing things to try out on your journey to success. These things shape your experiences. Therefore, you can't afford to regret that you never did them. Amazing things happen to those who consistently work hard and smart.

Conclusion

Hard work is the deliberate action you consistently take to get closer to your goals. Without hard work, your goals will only be dreams. Continuous hard work leads to continuous progress.

There is no secret to achieving success. Likewise, there is no such thing as “overnight success.” Overnight fame is not success. It is only temporary and would fade off before you even know it. The hard work quotes will help motivate you to keep pushing and develop a good work-life balance.

The more you work hard for your dreams, the closer you are to achieving the outrageous success you want. Nonetheless, hard work doesn't mean fruitless labor. On the contrary, it means intentionally and consistently taking actions that bring you closer to your dreams.

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Martin Luenendonk

Editor at FounderJar

Martin loves entrepreneurship and has helped dozens of entrepreneurs by validating the business idea, finding scalable customer acquisition channels, and building a data-driven organization. During his time working in investment banking, tech startups, and industry-leading companies he gained extensive knowledge in using different software tools to optimize business processes.

This insights and his love for researching SaaS products enables him to provide in-depth, fact-based software reviews to enable software buyers make better decisions.