They told you hard work is enough, they lied

They told you your hardwork is enough, you need to understand that they were wrong. They were dead wrong.

You've probably been told at some point in your life that all you needed to succeed was hard work, hell nah. If that's all you been told, you were told wrong.

Before we proceed, let's talk about a classic movie. The Matrix. Ever heard of it? Of course you have. Remember that scene where Morpheus asks Neo;

play

The red pill is knowledge, knowledge that will most likely lead to the painful truth. The blue pill is falsehood, that sense of security that comes from ignorance being bliss.

Well, this right here is the red pill.

I'll tell you a story from way back. There was this guy from Obafemi Awolowo University in the early 2000s. Pretty smart guy. He graduated with a 1st Class from a department that hardly ever produces such greatness. Don't ask me what department.

At his convocation, companies came and promised heaven and earth. This dude sat at home unemployed for a year. Why? Because he didn't know anybody. I kid you not.

There's this saying about the perfumer and the blacksmith.

Now, imagine you walk into a perfume store. You probably won't buy a single bottle, just like most people who walk into a perfume store. But if you stay there long enough, you'll probably leave that store smelling good.

Change the scenario by paying the blacksmith a visit. You know what I'm talking about right? You need to roll with the right crowd. Every time. The question you need to ask yourself is this; "in five years time, will this squad make me a better person or not?"

Location is vital.

Now, one of the most important rules in business is location. Your life, your future, your success is your business. Now, lets pretend you make the best ice cream in the world. You definitely won't sell a cone. If the course you studied in your school is very far from where it can be applied.

You know where you have to go after school right? You know that sitting your ass down in the wrong place wont give you anything right? Right?

On a final note.

This is not to say hard work is not important. We just need to understand that there are factors larger than us that sometimes means our hard work wont translate to surmounting success. The worst part about us thinking hard work is everything is that we make people who worked hard and failed to believe "they didn't work hard enough". No matter how hard a horse works, it will never fly. 

Now, this might not seem like very important things now, but take them seriously. When you leave school, you'll be glad you did.