I’m a great believer I luck, and I find the harder I work, the  more I have it. — Thomas Jefferson

Both working hard and hard work play an important role in the development of an individual, But ‘hard work’ is hard work. Its not easy. And hence, most avoid hard work. They run after what’s easy to achieve. 

If you avoid doing hard work, you avoid what it takes to succeed. Hard work acts as the distinguishing factor between the weak and the strong, between those who ’say’ they’ll do it and those who actually ‘do’ it.

Realize that you have a choice. Despite of the pain and regularity of initiative it asks, its benefits are enormous. What you achieve by hard work is something you cannot have by any other means.

Getting into the habit of working hard involves a change. The change is such that working hard isn’t a problem anymore. Its something you look forward to. Because it is the ’stand out’ quality you then have. It is the primary characteristic for anyone who wishes to reach to great heights.

So what is the change?

The change is to learn to learn to overcome the pain of working hard. To transmute that pain into enjoyment. Enjoyment of making an extra effort where others simply do what is easy and obvious. When you transmute that low level pain of working hard into higher level of pleasure, enjoyment and fulfillment and start enjoying working hard, the tides turn in your favor.

Merely working hard makes you stand out from the crowd because hard work is a region off the crowd. Even if you don’t quite arrive at the destination you started for, the lessons learnt along the way and most importantly the characteristics you developed to work hard prove invaluable in the long run.

Once upon a time a king had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock.  Some of the king’s’ wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it.  Many loudly blamed the king for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way. Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables.  Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road.  After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded.  After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. What the peasant had done is what many of us never understand! 

 Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.

Before you read on to my take on this story, I want you to take a moment to think about what it means to you.  When you come to a road block do you take a detour and go around it, even if moving it would mean the others that follow will have a smoother journey?  Are you the type to blame others, cry out or complain that something should be done when you run across a problem? Are you the type to do something about it? Whether you are doing it for personal reasons or because it is simply the right thing to do. Clearing roadblocks can offer many unexpected rewards  

  There are times when I could be a bit more diligent in clearing the road blocks that I run into.  Many times it is a matter of being in a rush.  It doesn’t have to be something as big as a boulder but there are many smaller things that you can do.  It can be something as simple as putting more paper in the copier when you it is running low instead of leaving it for the next person or picking up a piece of paper.  It also can be as complicated as fighting to get an ordinance passed to have a traffic signal put in at a dangerous crosswalk. The possibilities are endless.  The problem when it comes to many of the more difficult roadblocks is, nothing is done until a tragedy has occurs.  I’m not saying you have to go out and bring down the man. You can’t pick up a torch for every cause that comes along.  When you so come across something that you find yourself constantly complaining about and you are able to fix it, then do it.  If it is something that will take an act of congress, then write your congressman and ask others to do the same. What about roadblocks in your life? What are you doing about those?  Sometimes personal roadblocks are the hardest to overcome. 

 Do you treat the obstacles in your life like an elephant in the room that no one is willing to talk or even ask about?  Take some time this week to think about the obstacles in your life. I want you to write down as many as you can think of. When you are done, get another piece of paper and sort them in the order you think they should go from easiest to the hardest. Next week I will be back with some of my own personal stories and practical solutions to getting these roadblocks cleared and helping to get you on the right path for you. 

 Until next week, I wish you all

Love, Peace and Understanding!