Work, especially hard work is something many run away from and are scared of. However, I haven’t heard of anyone who is uber successful, admired and revered who did not work their face off. Many people have a dream, goal or ideal they are after. However, they do not really want it as they are not willing to put in the work to make it a reality. There is a great mantra from a friend of mine, Grant Senzani, that says “we honour the dream by doing the work.”

Honour is to regard with great respect or fulfil (an obligation) or keep (an agreement). Work is to be engaged in physical or mental activity in order to achieve a result; do work. A dream is a cherished aspiration, ambition, or ideal.

If you have a dream, it will require work to make it real. If you are to honour your dream, you will have to work for it. You will have to be fully committed to your dream far more than anyone else will be. You cannot expect anyone to give to your dream more than you; don’t expect others to invest in your dream when you are not willing to honour it yourself. I hear stories of aspiring entrepreneurs who ask for a funding runway for their idea when they haven’t put in a minimum themselves. Asking for the runway, “where are you running?” 

Some have a dream to attain a certain body goal, but they quit after four months. Some have a dream to get a qualification but quit after the first assignment. Some have a dream to build a business but quit after the first major loss. In all these cases, the person dishonoured the dream because they stopped putting in the work.

Something to know about a dream is that it is going to be a dogfight, it is going to be difficult - if it isn’t then I’m not sure it is a worthy ideal. The dream needs to be compelling and require everything you’ve got. There is a saying, ‘you’ve got what it takes but it is going to take everything you’ve got.’ Once you understand this, you will keep working.

Some say, ‘well we need to rest and take a break.’ Yeah, this is true but the rest is for those people who have put in the work. “For six days though shall work...by the sweat of your brow you should work.”

You will face roadblocks, you will be ridiculed, and you will want to quit but you should not. Winners never quit and quitters never win. When you are tired, learn to rest after work, not quit. When you quit once, it becomes a habit so never quit, not ever. 

Elon Musk is one of the greatest men of the modern era. From Pretoria South Africa, to Silicon Valley, he founded PayPal, sold it, and started SpaceX and Tesla. Then when he faced three failed rocket launches in a row, he was in financial trouble and almost lost both his companies. In an interview he was asked, “after the third failure, did you not think it was time to pack it in?” He said, never! “Why?” “I don’t ever give up, ever!” Even his heroes didn’t believe in what he was doing and it broke his heart. But Elon has a dream and he honours it every single day of his life. He works “super hard.” 100 hours a week! Now he is one of the wealthiest men in history with his wealth having reached an all-time high of 300 billion USD.

You need to work no matter what happens. Theo Baloyi of Bhatu shoes understands this.

Theo has definitely faced resistance, rejection, and ridicule on the path to success. He was first rejected 13 times before he got a meaningful partnership. Even at the zenith of success, he is still facing resistance, rejection, and ridicule. In spite of this, he has what I call his ‘work no matter what philosophy.”

They hate...You Work

They criticize...You Work

They speak ill of you...You Work

They copy...You Work

They sabotage...You Work

They Say No...You Work

They Plot evil...You Work

In favourable and unfavourable times...You Work

Work when things don’t go well, work when you don’t have money, work when you don’t have a favour, work when things go well, work when you don’t see light at the end of the tunnel - work no matter what. There are a lot of things you can’t control but you can control how hard you work.

Don’t cry, complain, or get mad just keep working, getting better and what you are doing and then one day they will call you lucky, say you have a snake or are purely gifted. When your dream becomes a reality and they ask you how you did it. Just tell them the eight words that got you there “We Honour The Dream By Doing The Work.”