Costs and benefits of hard work

Mark McIlroy

13 September 2025




1. It is often said that the only path to success is hard work. I think that this is true. The billionaire entrepreneurs generally work extremely long hours.

Also, there are many famous quotes from highly successful sports people about the need for hard work.

However hard work has a cost.


2. Working very hard is bad for your health. While a small amount of exercise and work is beneficial to health, overwork can lead to very poor health and even death in extreme cases.

The super-fitness gurus died in their 40's and 50's, not their 90's.



3. If you work hard then others in your industry are likely to see you as a threat. This is very harmful to your chances of success.



4. When you work very hard you start to lose perspective. What is important and what isn't important becomes less clear, and your decisions may not be as good.



5. Sometimes hard work generates career success or builds something worthwhile. Sometimes it is wasted. Be careful not to waste years of work on something that leads to nothing.

An example is building a large IT system, or new products for a business, that no-one wants.