It was another holiday in Nigeria yesterday. We marked Nigerian Workers Day. I guess it will be right to start by saying Happy Workers day to all Nigerian workers. Since the year began, we have had over 10 holidays in this country. Now, don’t think I hate holidays. I don’t. However, I think we’ve had one too many. The ratio of work days to holidays between Jan and April is approximately 8:1. It’s like having a holiday once every 2 weeks! For me, that is an invitation do disaster. It’s a reflection of the state of our economy. Our over-dependence on oil gives us liberty to declare public holidays at will. Whether people are at work or not, the oil wells are producing oil!
Consider that for a moment. If our economy is largely dependent on human capital and we loose so much of money when people don’t work, then we will realise the value of work. There is dignity in labour. Infact, the dignity of labour is the greatest of all dignities. One of the greatest problems facing our nation and our continent is that we have too many people who are not working. Some may even go to work but are still not working (visit some government secretariat and you will need no further proof). We are lazy people both in the use of our hands and of our minds. This is a tragedy!
Many people think that hardwork is a curse. Nothing can be farther from the truth. Hardwork is the only substitute to a hard life. Either your work hard or you live hard. The choice is yours. Golden opportunities are nothing to laziness but hardwork makes the commonest chance golden. Unless you are willing to drench yourself in your work beyond the capacity of the average man, you are just not cut out for positions at the top. Believe me.
The dictionary is the only place in the world where “success” comes before “work” just because of the alphabetical arrangements of things. Work always comes before success, anywhere in the world. Show me a lazy man and I will show you a man who has kissed success goodbye. A wise man puts it in a wonderful way “show me a man who is diligent in his work, I will show you a man who will stand before kings and not before ordinary men”. The diligent and hardworking hand will always bear rule.
Many believe that success is just being lucky. Nothing can be farther from the truth. Success comes by consistent hardwork. I like the way Alan Bond puts it. He said “I've always worked very, very hard, and the harder I worked, the luckier I got” If you believe so much in luck, it’s important to remember that hardwork increases your chances of being lucky. Oprah Winfrey, one of the most successful women in the world puts it in a way that I like. She said “The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you’re willing to work”.
In the words of Vince Lombardi “I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is the moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle-victorious”
In the school of success, there is no substitute to hardwork. Nobody becomes great without hardwork. Nobody! So, get ready to work. Everything works for him that works!
Stay on top!
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4 comments:
Hardwork never kills. It only refines. I have learnt that the harder and smarter you work, the closer you will be to your goals
Daniel
Tough article there but truth is never always sweet.
We sure need to work hard now so we can play later.
Another good one again. It is only in the dictionary that success comes before work. Even in the kingdom of God there is no place for a lazy man. Start working now it has a reward.
Blunt truth.
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