Work is an essential part of our lives. Work is important as it takes us to the next level of our own measure of success and finally to our God ordained destiny. Many people appear to be working hard even for a life time but perhaps only a few become really successful. The average person spends the bulk of their waking hours working to achieve certain goals. Proverbs13:4 says lazy people want much but get little but those who work hard will prosper. But not everyone achieves their goals and not everyone experiences the sense of purpose that work is meant to provide us with. To some, work merely remains a burden. The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty. Proverbs 21:5
We therefore have to ask ourselves what kind of work will take us to the next level or brings us success? Nehemiah 8:10 says Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength. Is it hard work or is it smart work? At the end of the day its our success and happiness that matters.
What is the secret? Why are some people successful and happy in their work and others not? There are too many variables involved to answer this question, but there are some guidelines for working smart, which is likely to improve one’s chances of goal achievement.
Hard work has been described as a method in which a person translates the vision and ideas into results. One cannot get away from putting in effort. It takes a lot of time just to make things correct. I press on towards the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:13. Time consuming by nature and an exhausting experience, it drains out the energy out of a person as it involves “lots of steps”. It is known that hard work allows you to not always “fully use your brain” but improves your determination and enhances your persistence. Sadly, hard work might not be enough to bring the best results to a problem or to a situation. Is it therefore important to only work hard? “If your success was earned through hard work and honesty never apologize for it” – Frank Sonnenberg
Many people who give up on their goals were just a step away from achieving success. But hard work by itself might not be enough. The key is to maximise the impact of that effort by working smart. As the inventor Thomas Edison said: “Success is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration”
Smart work is about using the right strategy and following a disciplined work culture. We have the mind of Christ I Cor 2:16 To work smart, a person should have a sound knowledge of the subject. Proverbs 24:5 A wise man is strong and man of knowledge increases power. Smart work is about focusing on relevant issues, having a clear and flexible goal and going about in a planned manner. It also involves a disciplined approach.
In order to cut through the usual clutter which obscures most problem solving situations, and to identify the key issues involved in any challenge, one needs knowledge and a thorough understanding of the situation. To obtain this, the situation needs to be explored without getting side-tracked or flooding one’s own mind with irrelevant detail. Proper understanding may also require analysis by pulling a situation apart to identify the factors involved and their interrelationships. It is important though, not to get knotted up in “analysis paralysis” Present your case, the Lord says. Bring forward your strong arguments. Isaiah 41:21.The information one obtains through analysis then needs to be ordered and structured in such a way as to be meaningful and coherent. The best way is to draw pictures to represent the information in terms of certain goals. Things that do not make sense, cannot be addressed properly. 1 Timothy 6 :20 says guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid irrelevant chatter and the opposing arguments of so-called knowledge. Once we have a proper understanding of what is involved, given both our personal goals and the contextual requirements, we can creatively come up with a smart and innovative way to achieve those goal.
Hard work and smart work go hand in hand. It is not a case of “either-or”, but a case of “and-but”. In our fast moving world, where many things compete for our time, smart work has become an imperative.
The key to smart work is awareness: of our goals, our thinking processes, our behaviour and our context. In psychology, this aspect is referred to as “metacognition”. It is about self-awareness and self-monitoring, which involves asking ourselves critical questions, or by applying “metacognitive criteria”. Self-awareness and the use of the right questions, is bound to result in greater efficiency, focus, creativity, and appropriateness. This is important as creativity and innovation are critical prerequisite for a person to adapt to fast changing business environments. Over time it also results in optimising one’s intuitive insights, learning potential and an appreciation of the big picture.
In a time constraint, ever changing work environment, we can speculate that most young people may have a tendency to choose the smart way and avoid the tedious “old fashioned” method of hard work. If an individual has chosen the smart way to work, below are a few tips to consider:
Finally, to reach the pinnacle of your success, to tap into your anointing and to know the perfect will of the God and to know the above factors in order to start working smart, go to www.cognadev.com/loi and explore the Learning Orientation Index (LOI) designed for Y generation, a computerised game that measures information processing preferences and skills. It is aimed at school leavers and university students for purposes of career guidance, further education, cognitive development, selection to educational programmes and talent management.
Don’t forget to work hard at working smart, and we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28
Sudeshini Fernando, Consultant Psychometrist, Cognadev Pty UK.
