Is life really unfair or does the hard work eventually pay off?

If you work hard through your education in terms of studying, building up a network, work experience and so on whilst most of your peers are not do you think it will pay off?

Beyonce once said during an interview with Oprah that she worked hard during her childhood and lost it in order to get to where she is now. I can assume that most of the TSR population are hardworking and are going out their ways to stand out - especially career wise. With that often comes a lack of a social life, bitchiness from peers, labelled a loner, anti-social or even too career orientated. People often tend to dislike you, trust me I am typing from experience.

But does it honestly pay off? I know for most the dream is to become fairly comfortable in life and completely snobbing all the idiots that bullied and made life difficult for us. However, what happens when it doesn't work out that way? or does it?

Any success stories?

(edited 11 years ago)

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

Aerosports

Feel the same way my athletics and study is all i care about but still I understand it doesn't work out for everyone i.e Beyonce.
But I don't believe in snobbing it doesn't make you any better than those who bullied in the first place.

As for me I work for people around me who sacrifice so much for me. Thats what is important

Reply 2

AnonymousPenguin

The thing is, the world is incredibly competitive. You have to have the talent AND you have to work hard. The corolary from the previous statement is that for many the hard work won't pay off.

Reply 3

g_star_raw_1989

Pay off how?

Don't sacrifice today in the pursuit of a better tomorrow too hastily; that is how you will waste your life away.

Reply 4

AnonymousPenguin

Original post by g_star_raw_1989

Pay off how?

Don't sacrifice today in the pursuit of a better tomorrow too hastily; that is how you will waste your life away.

All the research shows that people who are better able to trade small gains now for larger gains in the future are on average more successful as measured using a large range of indicators.

Reply 5

geetar

Yes, life is unfair. Hard work pays off most of the time, but luck is just as important.

Reply 6

llessur123

Hard work pays off if you're smart about it. It is entirely possible to work hard towards a goal which will get you nowhere.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 7

g_star_raw_1989

Original post by AnonymousPenguin

All the research shows that people who are better able to trade small gains now for larger gains in the future are on average more successful as measured using a large range of indicators.

It is just a matter of perspective really. The above might be true for those playing the 'the person with the most toys at the end wins' game.

Reply 8

roh

I think most people expect to start seeing the rewards in their mid-30s to 40s, as you start being the boss rather than the bossed, and most of them aren't on TSR to answer I suspect.

Also, this thread reminds me of the end of the History Boys!

Reply 9

Clip

This discussion sounds frankly self-indulgent and not a little bit masturbatory.

I'm not a huge fan of this idea that there is a formula for success based upon study and intellectual pursuits.

I would suggest that there is a huge range of qualities outside of academics, many of which would be as important if not more so - that would lead to "eventually paying off".

Creative spark, business acumen, initiative, common sense, luck, good looks, written and/or spoken eloquence, charisma, dress sense, social graces, a network of contacts.

You don't want to hear this, but without some of those, it's possible that you might as well be sitting on a fistful of Ds and Es in your exams. They're personal qualities like any other.

Reply 10

Bhumbauze

In terms of correlation, yes, hard work "pays off", i.e. hard working people are more likely to "get somewhere". But, it's not a guarantee. Some very hard-working people end up nowhere no matter how hard they try. Some get somewhere and end up losing it all. A sickening number of people get ahead in life with very little effort at all through simple luck; either being lucky enough to have family connections (or money behind them) or, often, just lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.

I'd personally say dumb luck plays a part in almost everything. Working hard will help to swing the odds in your favour but, at the end of the day, things to an extent just have to "go your way".

Reply 11

That Bearded Man

Honestly I don't think life is fair. I think there are too many people who have a job and don't deserve it. People at work didn't do half my workload, yet they earned substantially more than I did. It will often come down to who you know, as much as what you know, and that disgusts me.

However, if you, like me, lack those contacts, then the best you can do is work hard, graduate with as good a degree as you can and try to impress in the interviews.

I may be cynical, but that's what I think. Also it doesn't matter if life is or isn't fair, what YOU have to do to succeed, remains the same.....unless you plan on relying on luck or a relative.

Reply 12

Izzyeviel

It's not hardwork that matters, you ask anyone and they'll say they work hard.

It's more about how you deal with setbacks. Some people get on with life, some people give up, some people work even harder.

Reply 13

jami74

Original post by OxfordsSweetheart

the dream is to become fairly comfortable in life and completely snobbing all the idiots that bullied and made life difficult for us. However, what happens when it doesn't work out that way? or does it?

If you are genuinely happy with yourself and your achievements then you probably won't care much for snobbing other people. If you are snobbing other people then you are probably feeling bitter about something.

Happiness isn't caused by circumstances, it comes from within. Find the happiness and the success will find you.

Reply 14

MrHappy_J

Original post by jami74

How do you measure success though? Is it the highly paid job, the nice house/car/holidays etc? Or is it how content you feel with what you have? Are happy people with less money considered more or less successful than unhappy people with lots of money?

If you are genuinely happy with yourself and your achievements then you probably won't care much for snobbing other people. If you are snobbing other people then you are probably feeling bitter about something.

Happiness isn't caused by circumstances, it comes from within. Find the happiness and the success will find you.

Then how is it that there have been 1000 suicides in this country caused indirectly by the recession? http://rt.com/news/male-suicide-killer-rate-738/
How is it that the poor are usually the most depressed?

Reply 15

MrHappy_J

Life is unfair for those who, like me, find the competitiveness of modern life hard to cope with. Because for every little thing you can do, there will be hundreds of thousands of people who can do it better than you. You can't win.

Reply 16

SnoochToTheBooch

there's no reason you can't both have fun now and have a good career later, studying shouldn't take up that much time

Reply 17

noneofthemknew

Statistically though, the chance of getting to the level of Beyoncé is improbably miniscule. The belief that hard work will always pay off is a manifestation of the just world fallacy.

That being said, that's no excuse not to work hard, you have to be in it to win it.

Reply 18

non

it's not hard work that brings success it's working clever, out of the ordinary in a good way.

example, working hard in a job doesn't guarantee promotions.

but if you look at a successful business owner not all of them have worked 10 hour days.

It's easy doing what you are told (employee) but it's much more difficult to do a little of not getting told what to do (entrepreneur).

Reply 19

Aerosports

Beyounce is the peak of artist success . Often considered to be once in many moons legend . However i doubt that the average artist works any less , but rather multitasks including other commitments in their lives. People like beyonce ,MJ,and Lebron james ,Christiano Ronaldo all amazing people never multitask by jugging college and music or sports. Instead they had a one track mind to give their sole life with no back up plan like the average person would think about many talented people mention above did not complete high school Also their parents supported them in their earlier childhood to quit their education and focus on their career. The average person will not take such risk. The higher the risk the higher the reward simple.