Hard work and luck are two critical ingredients that are essential in the success story of any man's life, and that's because each plays an important role towards growth, acceptance, approval, and much more. If it were possible, it'd be best for everyone to have both because both have the capacity to skyrocket us to the peak of our careers or dealings, but today I'll love to pick sides between both in response to the focal point of this prompt.
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If we are to look at both sides of someone who clamors for success and would want to attain their goal, then most would have gone for luck because, why not? I mean, come to think of it, luck is like grace, which is an act of getting something at ease, whether you deserve it or not, and when we critically look at it, there's definitely no one who would want to work tirelessly without getting the desired result when you could have easily been lucky and attained your ambitions with little or no effort.
Like I said earlier, it'll be best if one can find a way to incorporate both into our lives, because a combination of both will be epic and bring about nothing short of excellence. Being lucky doesn't mean one isn't hardworking, and neither does hard work guarantee success.
Being hardworking is essential and could help one attain great heights and success in the long run, but nothing is as good as being lucky. You don't necessarily need to be lazy; a hardworking or semi-hardworking person can be lucky and get a promotion for a little task done that gets appreciated by a superior, while someone who's more hardworking doesn't notice, and with that being said, I'll love to share my experience with both hard work and luck.
HARDWORK EXPERIENCE: About 5 years ago, I was working in a factory where I was underappreciated despite putting in great effort towards my work. Although I was a supervisor, I still sometimes joined the workers under my leadership in doing some of the tasks, and at the end of the day, we usually get a mind-blowing production amount.
Because it's a day-and-night job, the management thought the team I was working with was more hardworking and perfect than the other team who worked the other shift, because we usually have more production than them, so they changed me to the other shift, and like magic, the new shift I was moved into started getting more results than the earlier team.
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And then came COVID. When most workers were let off, my salary was slashed, which I wasn't pleased with, but I continued to work until COVID was over, and then they refused to reinstate or improve my wages. Because of that, I quit, and all of a sudden, after I quit, the organization wasn't getting as much production as they did when I worked there. They brought in three different people to replace me, but they couldn't get them the results I was generating while I was the supervisor.
And all of a sudden I was called back to come back to my position, and when I told them I'm no longer interested, they even offered to pay me about X3 of my previous wages, and that's to show that with hard work and commitment towards your duties, it'll be hard for one to be replaced, and that act kind of makes us indispensable.
LUCK EXPERIENCE: I've on several occasions been lucky, and sometimes I wonder how God made such a thing possible, even when it seems like I don't merit it or because it's too consistent. And then I had to come up with a name for myself, which is 'Grace Personified'. One of my experiences with luck was when I was working at a resort as a housekeeper. It was a state-of-the-art resort known simply as Jubilee Chalet and was owned by Lagos State.
Then an interstate submit was held between Lagos and Kano State, and that brought about the presence of several dignitaries in our resort because that happened to be the venue for the submit. Some of the top dignitaries we had who lodged in the resort VP and executive suit were our former vice president, prof Yemi Osibanjo; the former governor of Kano State, Ibrahim Ganduje; the richest black man in the world, Mr. Aliko Dangote; and several others, to mention but a few.
So it happened that when the submit were about to begin, the resort went on to bring in new and pro-housekeepers to serve the dignitaries, while we were left with the less important personnel, but fortunately for me among all my colleagues, I was placed to work in the suit of the ADC to the governor of Kano State, and while I was doing my job one of those days, He complimented me and said he wasn't pleased with how the person put in charge of the governor was doing his job, and immediately, he took me to go and attend to the governor's apartment while the other person was sent to another place.
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It was a very surprising experience that got me dumbfounded because it wasn't like I was putting in much effort when he decided to change my position, and that was how I got to meet with the governor for the very first time. On one such occasion, when I was cleaning their apartment, I remember stumbling on the governor and Dangote, the Africa's richest man, having a meeting, and they asked me to continue my duties while they discussed.
and by the time I was done, Dangote gave me a cash of 30 thousand naira, and that was all that was with it at that moment. The reason he gave me was that I was the first staff member who had worked beside him and never demanded anything from him or tried to eardrop on his conversation.
I just smiled shyly and appreciated him. The governor himself gave me a pat on the back and spoke some inaudible words, which I only smiled and bowed in response to. To cut a long story short, by the time the submit was over, I'd been called upon to come attend the Vice President of Nigeria's suit, Dangote Place, and several other dignitaries. While my superiors were scared at first, they later play along and gave me kudos for doing a decent job that got me recognized by many guests within that short period. I remember the manager even showing me off to his superior as one of his own staff who's doing decently better than the pro staff that came from our other outlet.
To cut a long story short, at the end of the submit, which only lasted 6 days, I was able to realize nothing less than 210 thousand naira has tips from all these dignitaries; the governor himself gave me 100 thousand naira cash when he was checking out, and his PA gave me some cash and his card, should in case I ever visited their state, that's the power of luck and how it makes your ways and effort please everyone around you; most of my coworkers don't even get up to 20 thousand naira tip, and there I was with over 210 thousand, when my monthly wages then was just 40 thousand naira.
WHAT I LEARNT: Overall, what I learned from both experiences is that the importance of both hard work and luck can never be overemphasized and that each should be valued if possible. Inasmuch as we put in great effort, we should also always pray to receive favor and be lucky, because luck has a way of positioning us for favor beyond what just hard work can do.
But all in all, we should play our paths carefully, and hopefully luck will locate us in all we do. Luck can meet one anywhere, but it's much better when it meets you at a strategic place where you'll be more appreciated and won't be just deemed lucky but unworthy of the impact of the luck. A blend of hard work and luck is definitely the way to go.
Thanks so much for your time. I hope you enjoyed the read. Have a wonderful day ahead.