Hard Work is a Scam
The Chad Lion & The Virgin Fox
‘Hard Work’ is a compete psyop.
And no one is talking about it.
I came to this realization while reflecting on feedback I’ve received my entire life:
“You’re so hard working” // “You’re so disciplined”
It never felt like a compliment. But I didn’t realize until recently why that is...
It’s because it’s a lie.
Objectively, I've achieved 'above average' results my entire life:
I was always the team captain, group leader, class president, fraternity president, top student, etc. I went to a top three university in the world, graduated with honors, then built my own business, started a podcast, and have traveled the world in the process. Not to mention all the physical, mental, and spiritual development along the way.
I don't share this to brag, but to demonstrate a point: I didn't achieve any of this because of 'hard work' or 'discipline'.
I was lazy.
Over 90% of my 'wins' in life were because of positioning. I chose high-leverage things to do, places to go, and people to work with. I worked ‘smarter’.
As mentioned in 'The Sphere's of Vitality' Model, life is non-linear. There is a tiny portion of inputs that will give you disproportionate returns.
For example:
While the owner of the Laundromat begins his twelve-hour shift folding clothes, there is a day-trader rolling out of bed, logging on to the markets, and making his yearly salary before grabbing a morning coffee.
Who's working harder? Does it seem to matter?
If 'working hard' was the answer, we would have a blue collar aristocracy. Day laborers, data entry specialists, and landscapers would be the multimillionaire class shaping future of the human race.
Instead, it's the opposite.
Lazy tech guys with soft hands made the websites you post to. College dropouts built the laptops you type on. Kings and Emperors invented the 4-hour work week.
The intelligent few have always seen through the scam of 'hard work' right away.
And without active propaganda, everyone else would realize the same. It's our nature.
As Naval said to Rogan, we should work more like lions than the livestock. We aren't meant to graze slowly all day, everyday. We are meant for sprints of productive work, followed by days of leisure and rest.
William Blake echoes the same sentiment in ‘Heaven and Hell’ :
"The fox provides for himself, but God provides for the lion." ...
"If the lion was advised by the fox, he would be cunning. Improvement makes strait roads, but the crooked roads without Improvement, are roads of Genius."
So the choice is yours:
In our age of infinite leverage, the 80/20 Law skews towards 99/1. Choosing the right thing to work on is everything. There has never been a better time to work smarter, and not harder.
To have people voluntarily work a job in direct opposition to their spirit, propaganda was used to make them believe that ‘working hard’ and suffering was noble.
There is no nobility in self suppression.
The propaganda campaign began around the start of the industrial revolution. The elites needed strong willed, independent men to voluntarily suppress themselves into working long days on mindless and repetitive tasks. They needed you to don the yoke yourself. They needed an ENTHUSIASTIC SLAVE CLASS.
And while I love Camus, I don't imagine Sisyphus was very happy. Monotonous labor was his punishment.
There is no coincidence that characters like Goggins, Jocko, and Hormozi are venerated as saints by the algorithmic archons. They tell comfortable half-truths to placate masses.
The 9-5ers who quietly yearn to suffer in pursuit of a worthy cause live surrogate lives.
“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation … From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats. A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind. There is no play in them, for this comes after work. But it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things..”
- Thoreau, ‘Civil Disobedience’
These characters use words like 'grind' , 'sacrifice', and 'eat shit' for the path to success. They fail to highlight that for them, it doesn't feel like that at all.
The 100 mile races looks like torture to most, but for Goggins, it's transcendence. He's not 'grinding', he's in pure flow.
EFFORT is an EFFECT of working on a meaningful mission.
You don't need to 'grind' when you are doing something you love. Effort happens naturally.
The basketball-obsessed teenager will shoot thousands of shots without batting an eye. He’ll do it all day, forget to eat, and beg his Mom to let him keep going past bedtime. And he’ll do it all with a big smile.
In this example, he’s applying immense effort, but he's not ‘working hard’. The mission gives him a limitless wellspring of energy, fueling it's own fulfillment. It's the upward spiral.
The same is true in art, business, fitness, relationships, etc.
If you have to force your nose to the grindstone, you are in the wrong vehicle. Hard work is only necessary when you are resisting your nature. Effort is a natural byproduct of aligned action.
This is why you must architect your life with intention.
Because once you connect to yourself and align with a worthy mission, you'll never 'work' another day of your life.
'Discipline' comes from the root word Disciple, which means follower. To 'discipline' yourself you need something leading you.
Let your mission pull you forward.
Thanks for reading, share if you feel called. Otherwise talk soon.
Be The Renaissance.