From Hard Work to Smart Work: Lessons I Wish I Learned at 22

When I was 22 years old, I believed hard work solved everything.

And to be fair, hard work got me pretty far. I worked harder than almost everyone around me. I took pride in outworking people. Early mornings, late nights, extra reps, extra hours, it became part of my identity.

But looking back now, I realize something important:

Working harder is not always the same thing as working smarter.

There’s a line I think about often:

Working harder in the gym doesn’t matter if you’re not training for the demands of the game.

That lesson applies far beyond hockey. It applies to business, leadership, relationships, and life.

At 22, I thought effort alone would eventually unlock success. I believed if I simply outworked everyone else, things would fall into place. What I didn’t fully understand was the importance of direction, mentorship, and perspective.

I wish I would have sought out more mentors, people who had already been where I wanted to go. People who had seen the game from a different angle. People who understood not just how to work hard, but how to work intelligently.

I spent a lot of years trying to figure things out through pure effort when I could have accelerated my growth by learning from others who had already made the mistakes, learned the lessons, and seen what greatness actually looked like.

That’s probably the biggest thing I would tell my younger self:

Don’t confuse exhaustion with progress.

There’s a difference between being busy and being effective. There’s a difference between grinding and growing. The goal isn’t to prove how hard you can work. The goal is to build something meaningful, sustainable, and impactful.

Today, as we continue to grow Pro Motion Hockey and mentor the next generation of junior, collegiate, and professional players, one of my biggest hopes is that we give young athletes access to the things many of us had to learn the hard way.

The player from a small town trying to figure it out on his own. The athlete with talent and work ethic but without the right guidance. The player who needs someone to believe in him/her. The player who lacks confidence and just needs that extra nudge. The kid who needs a positive, energetic environment and someone who can make the gym fun again while still teaching accountability, discipline, and professionalism.

Because sometimes what changes a player’s future isn’t just talent.

It’s access.

Access to mentorship. Access to confidence. Access to people who genuinely care. Access to coaches who can help young athletes believe in themselves before the rest of the world does. Access to learning not just how to work hard, but how to work smart.

I think about that a lot now.

If I could sit down with my 22-year-old self today, I wouldn’t tell him to work less hard. The work ethic mattered. It still matters.

But I would tell him this:

Ask more questions. Find mentors earlier. Study people who have already done it. Be intentional with your energy. Learn faster from others. and understand that wisdom compounds just like hard work does.

Because eventually you realize the people who sustain success over decades usually aren’t just the hardest workers in the room.

They’re the people who learned how to direct their effort toward the things that truly matter.

That’s the real difference.