Is success truly the result of hard work?

We often hear, “I work real hard to get to where I am.”

All those words are often the acknowledgment makeup of success.

What is success?

Some say it is the result of hard work. Is it really?

Success, I believe, is a gift.

Does success usually come after hard work? I think so. But is it a result of hard work? I don’t think so.

When God kicked Adam out of the garden, Adam was left to work the soil. But was anything really grown because of Adam’s hard work? I don’t think so.

We received our paycheck, and we think, “I work real hard for this paycheck.” Did you, really?

“The laborer deserves his wage”, we read in the book of Proverbs. But can a man’s labor truly be served as a guarantee for his wage?

Pick any “successful” leader, and ask him or her, “Were you not allowed to get to where you are?”

You can also ask, “Is where you are truly where you had aimed to be?”

A salesperson knocked at my door once and sought to “classify” me as middle class. A salesperson. I laughed at his comment and asked him if he was serious by what he said. Of course, he probably knew nothing about what he said and was simply seeking to make a quick sale.

Hard work also leads to failures. And we learn mostly from our failures. Our failures usually point us in the directions of things we never knew, and thus bring us to new awareness of other possibilities.

Many have understood obstacles to be opportunities. Obstacles hard-press us of all our resources and motivate us to explore new possibilities.

Success is a gift. And all good gifts are from above from the maker of all things. If God had not caused the hiring manager to favor you for the job, you wouldn’t have been where you are today.

When Paul made the following statement, he was talking about the life-cycle of the gospel in the heart of the believer:

“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.” (1 Corinthians 3:6-7)

Every business leader should pay attention to the ending of both statements, “God has been making it grow…only God makes things grow.”

People want to hire you fast when they see you growing fast. Do they care how your growth comes about? I don’t think so. They simply want to reap a portion of your growth, of your success.

Why do we think honorary degrees exist? For organizations to reap credit for the growth, the success of the individual. All which may, later on, translate as leverages to justify pricier tuition for the next generation. But what most organizations fail to recognize is that the growth, the success, is a gift, from above.

Regardless of your leadership position, whether a father, a husband, an executive at a Fortune 500 company, you cannot deny the fact that you were allowed to be where you are, regardless of your credentials.

Nobody’s credentials ever guarantee them a job. I learned that right out of college. So regardless of how we deem LinkedIn to be powerful, it still cannot guarantee the full outcome of a hiring decision.

Success is no achievement, but a gift.