Working Hard or Pretending

Working Hard or Pretending

In 1920, he looked like one of the hardest-working and most successful men in America. Money was pouring into his Boston operation, and investors lined up to give him their savings because he promised incredible returns. For a while, it appeared he was delivering. From the outside, it looked as though he had built an incredible financial empire. He dressed like success, lived like success, and talked like success. There was only one problem: he hadn’t built what people thought he had built.

Much of the money being paid to earlier investors simply came from newer investors. Charles Ponzi had mastered the appearance of success. Eventually, people began examining the numbers and the truth was exposed. His deception became so infamous that more than a century later, people still use his name to describe this kind of financial fraud: a “Ponzi scheme.”

Charles Ponzi demonstrated to everyone you can look like you’re working hard without actually doing any hard work. You can pretend to fill your calendar, pretend you are investing in others, and pretend you are important. You can brag, or complain, about how busy you are while avoiding the difficult work that produces real results. But sooner or later someone checks the books, checks the results or checks your life. Pretending may impress people for a while. Busyness may look like progress from a distance. But eventually, the truth shows up. Pretending will falter. Genuine work will last.

We need to ask ourselves regularly, “Am I working hard or am I pretending to work hard?” There is a big difference between the two. Paul writes in Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord.” Notice he didn’t say, “Talk about the work,” or “Pretend you are working.” He said, “Work at it.” People who pretend they are busy never make a difference in the long run. They are like shooting stars that appear bright in the sky and disappear. They are the people who spend more energy trying to convince everyone they are working hard than they are spending actually doing the work to achieve their goal.

Why do some pretend? Because some people want the title without the responsibility, the recognition without sacrifice, and to cross the finish line without running the race. But real accomplishment doesn’t work that way. Real work requires discipline and effort. It means doing what needs to be done when you don’t feel like doing it. It means staying with the task when it becomes difficult or boring. It means showing up when you’re tired and continuing when you would rather quit. Most importantly, it means doing the work when no one notices and give your best when no one is applauding.

The reality is that hard work is often unseen. People love the appearance of success, but they rarely see the work that produced it. We see the successful business, but we don’t see the years of sacrifice behind it. We see the successful author, but we do not see the thousands of pages thrown away. We see the touchdown pass, but we do not see the thousands of throws in practice. We see the effective leader, but we don’t see the years of learning, failing, growing, and preparing. Long-term success is built when nobody is watching and is hard work.

That may be one of the greatest differences between a pretender and a worker. Pretenders want you to see how hard they are working. Hard workers are too busy working to worry about who is watching. Pretenders talk about the long hours; hard workers put in the hours. Pretenders talk about their sacrifices; hard workers simply make them. Pretenders tell you what they’re planning to accomplish; hard workers get it done.

Stop trying to look busy and start being productive. Stop talking about what you’re going to do and start doing it. Stop waiting until you feel motivated and begin. Stop looking for recognition, worrying about whether anyone notices what you are doing. Do the work. Remember “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord.”

Don’t build a Ponzi scheme with your life trying to be impressive with nothing underneath it. Build something real and that will last.

Work hard. Stay faithful. Finish what you start.

Don’t pretend to do the work. Do the work.

And let the results speak for themselves.