Life rewards action, not intelligence. Many brilliant people talk themselves out of getting started, and being smart doesn't help very much without … - James Clear

We need to redefine "hard work" to include "hard thinking."

The person who outsmarts you is out working you. The person who finds shortcuts is out working you. The person with a better strategy is out working you.

Usually, the hardest work is thinking of a better way to do it.

When you lose track of time, you are either living your best life or wasting it.

Focus on whether you are fulfilling your own potential than comparing yourself to someone else. The fact that you have a natural limit to any specific ability has nothing too do with whether you are reaching the ceiling of your capabilities. People get so caught up in the fact that they have limits that they rarely exert the effort required to get close to them.
Genes can not make you successful if you’re not doing the work. Until you work as hard as those you admire, don’t explain away their success as luck.