Semantics of Hell Describes Heaven

It has been suggested during the Productivity Blog Showdown that the discussion is really a matter of semantic differences. The assertion being that hard work can also be enjoyable.

Here is my response: If you use the phrase “hard work” to cover the waterfront of all possible meanings then the word gets so inflated it becomes meaningless. Nothing of value gets communicated.

We have all heard people say that they are working hard on their golf swing or some other delightful activity. I suppose you could lump coal mining with practicing golf. But, what then is the difference between this hard work and that hard work?

The difference to me is as extreme as black from white. You can point to Heaven and say that it is Hell but that does not make Hell heavenly. You can point to a spiritually uplifting, delightful flight of creative fancy and call it hard work, but that does not make a high stress, tedious, miserable, uncreative, sinew-straining, brain-decaying task blissful.

It is time to refine our vocabularies and use nuance and subtlety to express ourselves, especially if we want to communicate what it actually takes to be successful. Otherwise we can just say, “Work work work work work!” and hope that people understand what you are talking about.

The phrase "hard work" doesn't cut it; it comes with too much other ugly baggage. Let's keep "hard work" in Hell where it belongs. If yo want to be successful you need to engage in heavenly "play."

www.lazyway.net

Comments

[Steve Pavlina]

Replace the words "hard work" with "laziness," and you can read the version of this post that would appear on my site. ;)

[Jethro]

Err... Fred, I understand what you are saying and I agree with you. But you act like this is some unique revelation of yours. Maybe that isn't the case, but that's how I read your post.

Why don't you just provide definitions for the words from Day 1 that Brendon originally asked for?

success
hard work/working
passion
happiness
laziness/lazy
productivity
work ethic
efficiency
motivation

[DK]

... or as we used to say in college in the mid-90s: Work Hard, Play Harder. Of course, I was far more practiced in the latter.

[Life Coach]

Who says being lazy isn't equated with success?

cheers!