A Hard Lesson About Hard Work

I want to share a lesson I’ve learned that hopefully helps one of you.

Early in my career, I was obsessed with being a “high-performer.”

I wanted to be great. I wanted to succeed. I wanted to earn promotions and the career rewards that come with those.

So I did what I thought that required – I tried to outwork everyone else.

I would be in the office before sunrise. I would often leave after dark (or sometimes not leave at all). In my first job out of school at ESPN – technically a 29-hour per week role – my manager pulled me aside and said he was concerned about me working at all hours of the night given it was not a full-time role.

After a week full of 14 hour workdays, I’d wake up Saturday morning … and answer emails. I’d work on Sunday evenings. I’d be available at virtually all times, 7 days a week.

I took pride in this.

Starting out your career, if you want to get ahead, you need to grind. You need to earn everything you get. If you want success, you need to be the “hardest worker in the room.”

That’s the message I got, at least, and I took it to heart.

And in some ways, it “worked.” I did have some early success. I was promoted faster than others and tabbed for the “fast track.”

Well, something happens as you get a little older. 

You realize your “success” is not yours alone, and that you stand on the shoulders of many others.

You realize you don’t know everything and that learning is far better than appearing right.

You realize you’re not infallible and immune to making mistakes, sometimes big and costly ones.

In essence, you get humbled.

For me, I attribute that to how much I’ve grown in my faith over the last ~15 years. 

As you grow in faith, you begin to understand that every good thing in your life comes from God.

You learn that “for of Him and through Him and to Him are all things.” You learn that every skill, talent and ability you have is of no credit to you – it was given. You learn that “success” is not actually earned, it’s an undeserved blessing.

And there is so much freedom in this.

I’m 36 years old as I write this, over a decade removed from those early career days I referenced above. 

I still believe deeply in “old school” work ethic. I believe in fully applying yourself in whatever you do. I believe you must care about your craft, and there’s a certain time commitment that comes with caring. How to work hard is one of the fundamental traits I want to pass on to my kids.

So this is not a post demonizing hard work.

What’s changed is how I view the root.

When the root of your hard work is humility, an eagerness to maximize the ability God has given you and a desire to serve others in the process, it will bear good fruit. 

But when the root of your hard work is pride, it will eventually burn you to the ground.

Looking back to those early career years, the root of my hard work was not pure.

What I was really doing was performing. 

I was trying to impress others. I was trying to prove my worth to get some temporary reward. I was trying to fill a hole in myself that took me years to realize was even there.

So, here’s the message I hope you get from this, especially if you are just starting out in your career:

You do not need to “perform.” 

You do not need to impress people. 

You do not need to do everything on your own.

Forget about being a high-performer, and instead focus on building high-character.

Be gracious. Be generous. Be reliable. Be trustworthy. Be faithful. Be a great teammate.

You’ve been given gifts and talents that you didn’t earn. Be grateful and take them as far as you can, serving others the best you can along the way.

Everything eventually works out, because we are not in control.

And praise the Lord for that.

A Few Good Things

1. Profile of Saquon Barkley. This profile of Eagles running back Saquon Barkley is a great read. I had no idea Saquon was an avid startup investor and has a number of big wins in progress. It’s cool to see great athletes set an example of being responsible with finances and building interests outside of their sport.

2. The Cost of Comfort. I enjoyed this blog post from investor Ted Lamade on what happens when we get too comfortable. He compares what’s happened to prominent LIV golfers to the current state of the financial markets. 

3. Psalm in Blues. I randomly came across this guy on YouTube who sings different Psalms in various Blues styles, and wow is it incredible! If you’re into Blues music, check this out.

Thanks for reading.

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Have a great week, y’all.

Teddy is the author of The Process. Feel free to reach out on LinkedIn or X, or reply to this email.