Although this may be a hot take, I believe that hard work isn’t valued anymore. Life is full of shortcuts, life hacks, and taking the easy way out. With modern resources—such as artificial intelligence, online platforms, and social media—it’s easy to create an image of success without the work behind it.
As a society, we are constantly encouraged to do the bare minimum. In class, we submit papers with minimal effort, drawn from sources about which we know nothing. It isn’t difficult to write a reflection on a book you didn’t read. The internet is full of all the answers to exam questions, and most professors will not discourage you from using these resources.
Don’t get me wrong, modern technology is exceptionally helpful, but it should be used as a tool rather than a solution. There’s a clear difference between using resources to support your learning and using them to replace effort. When you complete a task with ease, you may see the benefits on paper, but in reality, you slowly begin to lose the value of working hard. It’s easy to get a good grade, pass a class, and check off boxes, but you lack the skills, discipline, and strength that are obtained from working hard.
Not to sound old-fashioned, but there is so much reward through struggle. Throughout my college career, I’ve been encouraged to take courses with “easy professors,” but I find it depressing that we base our course load on getting an “easy A.” I don’t know about you, but I’d rather take a course that interests me and will provide me with valuable knowledge at the cost of not getting a perfect score.
Taking the easy way out may satisfy us in the short term, but at what cost? When we choose the easiest possible way to do something, we unintentionally lower our standards for ourselves, not only academically, but also personally. Somewhere along the line, we stop valuing effort and become comfortable where we are. We stop striving for greatness and settle for mediocrity. We expect results without effort, success without failure, and knowledge without understanding.
When there are no shortcuts available, many people give up. We put off assignments that we perceive as difficult, searching for the easiest possible way to get them over with. Maybe if we stopped focusing on “getting it over with” and aimed to produce a product that we are proud of, we would find more satisfaction in life.
Hard work isn’t simply about the outcome, but revolves around the process of achieving something that may not come easily to us. Hard work gives us the perseverance, skills, and strength to produce something we are proud of, without shortcuts. While shortcuts may be helpful at the moment, they are costing you something in the long run. In a society where doing the bare minimum is rewarded, the choice to work hard and accomplish something greater is often forgotten, but that’s exactly why it’s so important.