The right kind of hard work
9-9-6. Do you know this number sequence?
Not being a part of it, I haven’t had my pulse on San Francisco’s AI work culture that’s been gaining momentum over the last year, but a random article brought 9-9-6 to my attention. In contrast to the 4-day workweek, it refers to working 9 am to 9 pm, 6 days a week, an approach imported from China’s start-up scene, not to say past Silicon Valley entrepreneurs didn’t work such hours.
The schedule is being touted by some start-up leaders as the way to succeed. Another similar WSJ article, “’Work-Life Balance’ Will Keep You Mediocre,” recently gained notoriety for advocating such work practices when young to maximize wealth early.
Despite my championing sustainability, I don’t think these practices are entirely bad in the short-term depending on one’s ambitions, circumstances, and capacity, but they certainly aren’t sustainable over time.
This raises a deeper question about the nature of hard work itself. When is effort meaningful versus merely exhausting? And how can we harness our natural drive to do hard things in service of what truly matters to us?
Because hard work isn’t bad, especially when it comes to our ambitions. And when it’s aligned right, it can be more sustainable.
In fact, we are drawn to do hard things, despite the belief that we prefer less effort and more ease. The social psychologist Michael Inzlicht coined this as the “effort paradox”: for some of us, there is more meaning to our effort when we put in the hard work.
This isn’t just philosophical—it’s backed by behavioral research. When we put in the effort, our work has more meaning, because humans are motivated by purpose and progress. Dan Ariely’s research (a worthy TED talk) found that we value when we put in some amount of work (e.g., think putting together IKEA furniture or cake mixes that were redesigned to have consumers add an egg and milk to give them the satisfaction of feeling like they actually made the cake). In essence, our effort matters.
The successful tennis player Rafael Nadal spoke of this in his autobiography writing, “One lesson I’ve learned is that if the job I do were easy, I wouldn’t derive so much satisfaction from it. The thrill of winning is in direct proportion to the effort I put in before.” Nadal wanted to earn the reward.
When we are working on or toward something we truly want, we also don’t shy away from hard work. This is what the author alludes to in this Free Press article, “I Work for a Big Life—Not Big Dollars,” which is described as “an ode to hard work, and to earning one’s pleasure.” When our effort is aligned with what we want, the hard work is justified and appreciated. There’s less friction and less psychological distress. That means aligning our effort to what we want supports sustainability.
This leads us to two crucial questions:
Where do I want to put in the hard work?
Is it the right kind of hard work?
In Sustainable Ambition, I explore these questions through three elements of ambition that help us discern where to apply our effort.
Aspiration: Are you putting in the effort for what you desire and aspire for your life?
Motivation: Can we find the sweet spot between effort desired and effort required?
Determination: Is the hard work and grit worth the desired outcome and personal reward?
These questions help us evaluate the first dimension—where to put in effort. But what about the nature of the effort itself?
For the second question—Is it the right kind of hard work?—Cal Newport offers a good exploration, along with this conversation on the excellence, actually podcast. Essentially, Newport offers a distinction between hard work and hard to do work, or what I might call discerning hard work versus grinding, busy work. His counsel: “Focus Hard. In Reasonable Bursts. One Day at a Time.”
There’s a nature and nuance to hard work. It requires discernment.
And hard work can be a signal of our ambition: a mix of our aspiration, motivation, and determination.
So while 9-9-6 culture might promise success through sheer volume of hours, the real path forward lies in being more intentional about our effort. Instead of working loads of hours because someone else says we should, we can ask ourselves: Is this effort aligned with my true aspirations? Does it energize rather than drain me? Am I committed to this outcome for the right reasons.
The answer isn’t to avoid hard work—it’s making sure our hard work is working for us and that we sustain ourselves over time.
Want to get insights, tips, and tools on how to live with Sustainable Ambition? Join in here. Welcome!
Sustainable Ambition is about being consciously ambitious and crafting fulfilling work from decade to decade without sacrificing your life or yourself. At Sustainable Ambition, you can find content, tools, and resources complemented with coaching and workshops, all to help you create a life with work that works for you.