Why Work If You Don’t Have To?

Which person is better off — someone who gets everything handed to them on a silver platter or someone who has to work hard for everything they get? Your first reaction might be that winning the lottery sounds pretty good, thank you. After all, why bust your chops if you can get everything without doing anything?

Just think. You wouldn’t have to study hard. You wouldn’t have to practice. And you wouldn’t have to work your tail off. In fact, you wouldn’t have to make much of an effort at all. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?

Be careful what you wish for. The do-nothing, get-everything plan isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be.

Hard Work Is Good for Your Soul

Some folks are born with a silver spoon in their mouth. Others get rewarded through special treatment, such as favoritism, cronyism, or personal bias. And others simply take what they want by lying and cheating, gaming the system, or winning on the backs of others.

If you’re one of the above, you may have a fancy title, be able to afford expensive possessions and brag to your neighbor, but you really don’t deserve your rewards because you didn’t earn them. While others may place you on a pedestal when they see your trophies, you know the real truth. And that means everything!

You see, the real reward of success isn’t the wealth, power, and status that comes with a triumph; it’s the feeling of accomplishment that you receive from setting an ambitious goal, overcoming a difficult challenge, and fighting the good fight until success is won. As such, hard work isn’t a punishment. It builds character, provides a sense of purpose, and promotes confidence and self-esteem.

One of the greatest rewards of success is knowing the obstacles that you overcame to achieve it.

On the other hand, when you receive rewards without earning them, it:

Creates self-doubt. When people are rewarded without making an effort, it reduces confidence and robs those individuals of their personal dignity.

Makes you weak. When any part of the human body hasn’t exercised properly, it will atrophy. This is also true of the human spirit.

Weakens your potential. There is great truth in the saying, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” How can you replicate success if you never earned it in the first place?

Promotes dependency. Dependency purges people of their dreams, makes their spirit atrophy, and enslaves them to a lifetime of mediocrity.

Hard Work Beats Easy Money, Every Time

While you may think giving someone a free pass is kind and generous, you’re not doing them any favors.

If you ever had someone push you to your limits, they were implying, “I’m hard on you because I know you’re capable of more.” On the other hand, when you give someone a free pass it’s like saying, “I’m doing this because I’m not sure you can do it yourself.” If you really want to help someone, give them the tools and the confidence to achieve success themselves.

Like most people, I’m sure you don’t want to receive an act of charity. You want to know that your rewards are hard-fought and well-deserved. That, in turn, will give you peace of mind, knowing you can replicate that success any time you put your mind to it. It will also give you control over your destiny.

The true reward of success emanates from a person’s journey, not the destination. It’s the feeling of accomplishment that comes from triumphing over a difficult challenge, becoming a better person, and making a difference in someone’s life. Conversely, when someone is rewarded without working for it, they lose something very special — they lose the feeling of accomplishment that comes from earning their success. As Frederick Douglass said, “People might not get all they work for in this world, but they must certainly work for all they get.”