Success is something that we all want to achieve in our lives. The type of success aspired to can vary greatly from person; some people want nothing more than to be happily married, have a large family and bring up their children well. Other people strive for academic success and becoming as highly educated as they can, while some people are much more career-focused, and even with this group, their main marker of success can be different things: the power they have, the money they earn or the good they do, a combination of things or something else entirely. Because every type of success is very different, every road to success is very different too, but everyone¡¯s route has one thing in common: hard work.

Academic success is something that many students want, but also something that many students are not prepared to really work. Often, successful students are envied for the wrong reasons, with other people thinking that they¡¯re just gifted and assuming that they don¡¯t even work hard. The most successful students, though, are those that put the work in. It doesn¡¯t matter how intelligent you are if you don¡¯t put the effort in to learn, and work hard on essays and other assignments. Everything we know is learned, and intelligent people are not born with everything already stored in their heads. While intelligence can give students a head start over others, this is where it ends, and those getting the results they want will ultimately be those that worked the hardest.

This academic success will also help with your career, but once you¡¯re in a job it¡¯s also incredibly important to work hard. The only people that will be considered for promotion are those that go above and beyond the line of duty in their work. This means being very productive during the working day, but also being prepared to work additional hours and do anything additional for the company if needs be. If you do the same job as another person and you¡¯re equally qualified, the differentiation made between you will be based on who does the best job, which ultimately comes down to who works the hardest.

The final type of success is in personal relationships, which everybody wants in some capacity. Working hard at relationships can actually be the hardest of all, as it involves a great deal of time and emotional investment, but it¡¯s worth it to have the support and love of others. Couples that stay together all their lives do not manage it by chance, but by working hard at their relationship, making an effort to do things for each other, working out compromises, and addressing, not ignoring, any issues that may arise in the relationship.