The title is a personal quote of mine that I find fits my life quite nicely, and I think it might fit yours too. Allow me to explain:

If "I work hard now," I invest whatever time it takes to get my job done effectively and efficiently, and a bit more. Often this is above and beyond the 40 hours I am "paid" to work (I'm an exempt associate). If I work hard now, I'm able to get ahead of my peers who work "just hard enough" to get by and do what they do. By working hard now, I can avoid having to "work hard later" in my life, and my career, because I am setting the table for my future successes by investing the time right now to learn what I need to do to be successful, to get my name out there so people view me as an advocate for them, and to prove that I am willing to pay the price for success.

The harder I work now, the less hard I'll have to work later. On the other hand, if I choose to be one who just gets by, then I'll have to work hard forever and keep doing "just enough." I'm sure you, like me, know plenty of people who do this, and then wonder why they never get ahead in their career or in their personal life. For me, I prefer to work hard now, put in my time, and rise to the top.

So it's your choice, work hard now, or work hard forever. Simple enough really.

Phil Gerbyshak leads a team of IT help desk professionals in Milwaukee, WI, and finds that sharing his knowledge is a crucial component in his success as a leader and as a person. Phil's personal philosophy is paraphrased from Tim Sanders' fantastic book Love is the Killer App: "Share your knowledge, your network, and your love. The rest will follow." Read more of Phil's ideas at http://makeitgreat.org