Don't just be busy - Do the hard work!
"How are things going?" "Oh, I'm just working hard and staying busy!"
We love to confuse being busy and "working hard" with hard work. We may have the satisfaction of having a very busy day but did we really accomplish anything important? Are we moving closer to our goals or are we ignoring them hoping we will magically get there?
Are you in a job transition? Working hard is applying for job after job online, tweaking your resume over and over and over again. The hard work is networking - reaching out to people you do not know, hearing their story, and telling your story. You will find yourself helping people you just met, sharing a story of one of your experiences that will help the other person.
Maybe you left a full-time position (voluntary or involuntary) and decided to start your own business. Working hard is selecting yet another new, cooler software tool to manage your contacts and migrating all of your data from Excel. The hard work is defining your brand, growing your network, and staying engaged through email communication and personal contact.
Hard work is just that: Hard Work!
But it will get you to the finish line much quicker than working hard.

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