In a recent interview, Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, said There’s no such thing as success without hard work.
Jamie Dimon’s advice about work and business leadership (video interview)
There’s no such thing as success without hard work
– Jamie Dimon
The statement itself is an adage, not necessarily the brain child of Jamie Dimond.
Many great people had similar opinions, just to list a few:
I’m a Great Believer in Luck. The Harder I Work, the More Luck I Have – Thomas Jefferson
Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration – Thomas Edison
God helps those who help themselves
The harder you work, the luckier you get
You will have to work like a slave to live like a king
I never dreamed about success. I worked for it. – Estée Lauder
There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure. – Colin Powell
All these statement try to deliver the idea, that to be successful you will need to work hard.
My question, is it possible to be successful without working hard ? Yes, absolutely.
Possibly half the startup founders didn’t really have to work hard, as they can hire with investors money.
Add to that, a big percentage of rich kids, just get the capital from the parents, hence allow them to hire and have someone who would work hard for them.
If you are poor or middle class, and not an entrepreneur, the most common honest way to be successful is to work hard. Thus the statement itself is not totally true as there are so many exceptions to it. And when external money is involved (parents, investors), the entire statement is no longer valid.
Also luck plays a big role in success, especially in tech and startups, being an early employee can make you a millionaire if not billionaire.