The beauty of hard work is that any able-bodied person can do it. If you put in more hours honing your craft than the average person, chances are you’ll achieve far greater success than the average person.
If you happen to be rich, well-connected, and blessed with movie-star looks, combining those advantages with relentless effort might catapult you to unimaginable heights.
But for most of us—who are, by definition, average—our greatest asset is our work ethic. The only path forward is to keep pushing, refining, and showing up, even when we don’t feel like it. Success comes to those who put in the work, day in and day out.
A Missed Opportunity Due to a Lack of Hustle and Follow-Up
One of my goals for 2025 is to sell my old house and simplify life. While I remain bullish on San Francisco real estate due to ongoing tech wealth creation, I’m also past my limit on the number of rental properties I want to manage. In Q4 2023, I bought another home and rented out my old one for a year.
Now, with more flexibility on commission rates and another year of stock market gains, I figure it’s a good time to sell and reinvest the proceeds into 100% passive income investments. I gave renting out the place a shot, and I won’t have any regrets about not having tried.
As part of my plan, I identified two real estate agents. The first was a mid-tier agent who originally sold me the home. We connected over hours of private 1-on-1 showings during the 2020 lockdown. The second was a top-tier agent I’ve gotten to know since moving to the west side of San Francisco in 2014.
Since the mid-tier agent had fought for me during my purchase, I wanted to return the favor by hiring him. He was also willing to charge a lower commission rate. However, when I gave him the opportunity to pitch his services for another property I considered selling in 2024, he failed to follow up for two weeks after visiting the home.
As a result, I decided to interview the top-tier agent, given her stellar track record of selling homes in the area.
The Top-Tier Agent Wanted It More
After meeting with both agents for an hour, I told them I’d be back from our family vacation on December 31, 2024. I didn’t give them any specific instructions—I prefer not to tell people what to do. I simply left it at that, using it as a subtle test to see how long it would take them to follow up.
The top-tier agent followed up on Tuesday, January 7, 2025, checking in on how my trip went and where I stood on selling. The mid-tier agent, on the other hand, didn’t follow up until Friday, January 17—and still hadn’t provided a marketing game plan.
Waiting a week into the new year to follow up was reasonable. People are busy after the holidays. But waiting 17 days? That signaled a lack of urgency, especially since I had been gone on vacation for eight days. If I were planning to list the following month, there was a lot of preparation work that needed to be coordinated.
Ultimately, I chose the top-tier agent because of her work ethic. We even ran into her at a Tuesday broker tour the morning after she reached out. It felt like destiny. With her, I felt confident that things would get done without me having to chase her down.
In the end, hustle and follow-up matter. The mid-tier agent had another opportunity, but he let it slip away. I was rooting for him, as I always like to root for the underdog.
Work Harder to Minimize Regrets
When you’re not yet a top producer, hard work, hustle, and follow-up are your greatest equalizers. You must make your prospective client feel like they’re your number one priority. What you lack in achievement, you can make up for with relentless dedication and exceptional service.
Regret is one of the worst feelings because it often signals that you didn’t try hard enough. Even if you make the wrong decision, working hard toward your chosen path minimizes regret. Why? Because you gave it your all. The clearest antidote to regret is putting in the effort.
Some examples of regret minimization through hard work:
- If you study hard in high school, you won’t regret missing out on your top college choice—you’ll know you did your best.
- If you show up early and stay late at work, you might still feel disappointed about not getting promoted. But you won’t regret the effort you put in.
- If you consistently call or text your parents multiple times a week, you’ll have no regrets about the relationship you built with them once they’re gone. You did everything you could to maintain a strong connection even if they did not.
- If you diligently practice your sport every day of the week, you won’t feel as much regret if you don’t win
Even when things don’t go as planned, knowing you gave your best effort will leave you more content.
Everybody Should Work Long Hours For Several Years
If there’s one undeniable benefit of working in banking, it’s the brutal hours you’re forced to endure for years before tasting some success. Even when you make Managing Director, your reward is often more of the same—long hours and relentless pressure.
But perhaps an even tougher job? Working minimum-wage service roles. These jobs often have you on your feet all day, performing repetitive tasks while managing frustrated customers who demand perfection. Experiencing the grind of hard work for little pay early on can instill a deep appreciation for any future job that offers more fulfillment and opportunity.
I wonder if the lack of hustle by some is simply because they haven’t experienced the endless grind before? Or maybe life was too easy for them growing up. I’m not sure.
Conquer The Morning
If you can wake up at 7 AM to build someone else’s vision, you can wake up at 5 AM to build your own. Get to it!
When I worked in international equities at Goldman Sachs at One New York Plaza, I was stationed on the 49th floor. Our day started at 5:30 a.m.—a full four hours before the stock market opened. One of my roles as a financial analyst was to compile all the necessary information from the previous night and early morning so the traders, sales traders, and salespeople were fully prepared to speak with their clients.
Coming in at 5:30 a.m. and leaving after 7:00 p.m. every day wasn’t fun, but it trained me to make the most of the early hours. Mornings are when you have the most energy and focus. By tackling the hardest tasks early, the rest of the day becomes much more manageable.
Fast forward 26 years, and I still wake up between 4:30 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. every day. This habit has become even more important now that I have kids. Taking care of young children requires tremendous energy and attention. They can always sense when you’re distracted. Waking up early allows me to get my writing done before beautiful chaos ensues.
Whether you’re building a side hustle, tackling your to-do list, or carving out time for personal growth, conquering your mornings is key.
Missing Opportunities Due to a Lack of Effort Is a Shame
Whenever someone asks me for advice on getting ahead, I always say: “Never fail due to a lack of effort because effort requires no skill.“ For those who take this mantra seriously, I often see them accomplish great things.
Unfortunately, too many people sabotage themselves by giving up on their work ethic far too soon—or worse, by giving up entirely. If you know that success is just one more phone call, one more email, one more client meeting, one more video, or one more product away, why would you stop?
Yet, there are still people who work just 40 hours a week or less and then complain about why they can’t get ahead. It’s baffling, especially when those who are already far ahead continue to put in well over 40 hours a week to stay ahead.
You Don’t Have to Hustle Hard Forever
I know some people get upset when they read my take on work, but the reality is, your competition doesn’t care about your feelings. It’s a brutally competitive world. Without consistent effort, you’ll never get ahead of the average person.
Yes, I understand that this article feeds into “hustle culture,” which some view as toxic, especially when feeling burned out. But my point isn’t that you have to grind indefinitely—it’s that you have to work hard when it matters most.
The window of opportunity is smaller than you think. When you’re in a position to advance—whether it’s landing a client, securing a promotion, or building something meaningful—go all in. Because eventually, you’ll hit a ceiling, and those rare opportunities to accelerate your success will disappear.
If I could turn back time, I would have started Financial Samurai sooner—rather than waiting until 2009 when I was already 32. From ages 26 to 29, I juggled a full-time job, working ~60 hours a week, while attending business school part-time for another 20 hours. Yet, after graduating, I let three years slip by before launching this site. What a shame.
Competition Is Now Global
It’s not just local competitors you’re up against. You’re also contending with hungrier, more determined international competitors who see how much opportunity there is in the United States and are willing to outwork you to get it.
For example, while we’ve been pouring billions into AI development, countries like China have managed to catch up with far fewer resources. How? They worked harder and innovated out of necessity because they didn’t have the luxury of doing otherwise. Like it or not, we face domestic and international competition. And if we’re not careful, we’ll get passed by.
Effort is the great equalizer. And the shame of missing opportunities due to a lack of effort is that it’s entirely avoidable. If success is in your sights, put in the work—it costs nothing but time and determination.
Readers, what do you think is holding people back from working harder to get ahead? How essential do you believe a strong work ethic is for building above-average wealth? Have we in the United States become too complacent because life here is relatively comfortable?
Subscribe To Financial Samurai
Listen and subscribe to The Financial Samurai podcast on Apple or Spotify. I interview experts in their respective fields and discuss some of the most interesting topics on this site. Your shares, ratings, and reviews are appreciated.
To expedite your journey to financial freedom, join over 60,000 others and subscribe to the free Financial Samurai newsletter. Financial Samurai is among the largest and most trusted independently-owned personal finance websites, established in 2009. Everything is written based on firsthand experience and expertise.
