How to Train Yourself to Work Harder

Lessons from History’s Greatest Entrepreneurs

Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash.

Training yourself to work harder isn’t about hustle for hustle’s sake.

It’s about developing the mindset, habits, and systems that make extraordinary output inevitable. David Senra, creator of Founders Podcast, has spent years studying the lives of history’s greatest entrepreneurs. He’s distilled their lessons into a philosophy for outworking everyone else, not through gimmicks, but through obsession, endurance, and relentless focus.

I broke down his principles to apply to my own life.

1. Embrace Pain and Perseverance

Hard work begins with learning to endure discomfort.

Senra repeats a maxim from Four Seasons founder Izzy Sharp: “Excellence is the capacity to take pain.” Anything worth achieving comes with difficulty, and the sooner you accept pain as mandatory, the faster you’ll progress. The people we admire didn’t “chill out.” They fought, failed, and persevered until they succeeded.

Endurance becomes the differentiator. Senra often says, “Time carries most of the weight.” The longer you stay in the game, the greater your advantage, because most people quit when things get hard. Winning often comes down to who can last the longest.