Please Don't Tell Me How Hard You Worked

Minor rant for a second.

Why is it that successful people feel the need to justify their lifestyle with the cheap term, "I worked really hard!"
Yeah, so do people overseas making much less than you do.
So does the stay at home mom who makes NOTHING.

Hard work does not equal success.  Hard work is a fact of life.  Hard work without a goal, without a purpose, is vanity.  It is a waste of your life.  The key is having a goal.  The key is having something to strive for and work towards.

But don't tell me that the reason you are enjoying life so much is because you worked hard.  I won't say that everyone works hard, because that's simply not true, but hard work is not the determinate factor in deciding success.

For once, have an ounce of humility and realize that you are in the situation you are not just because of your "hard work," but also because of dumb luck.  You are where you are because you know people, because you were born into the right family or the right country, or simply because the people you know have placed you there to help take care of you.  Every family has resources up their sleeve.  Do not for one second claim proprietary ownership of that success.  It's revolting.

I am not talking about those who have had the vision, drive, and hard work to rise above their station in life.  I am talking about those who clearly are the recipients of several generations of good fortune and hard work.

I used to look up to successful people, wondering what their secrets were.  The truth is that there is no magic formula except looking inside yourself and wondering what you truly want.  Only the strong and the brave can look inside themselves and be honest enough to go after that.  After a few years' drought of inspiration and wanderings, I have realized that I would like to conquer graphic design.  I want to learn Adobe Illustrator and start making vector images.  I want to start designing my own album covers and concert posters.  I want to do many other things, as there are many more applications for graphic design, but these things are what ties the present to the past.  Finally, the convergence of passion and function has been found.