Working blindly hard is rarely rewarded well. Working smart, much better success story. This can be applied across whole job market but also within white collar jobs - I saw folks around me almost burn out with little to no reward, when it was cca clear it would end up that way. I didn't at that point, and leaned into stuff in other areas of my life and that worked much better.

I only write about myself and my perspective, have nothing to sell here, just sharing experience. No need to be so dismissive. There is always a factor of luck, but much less so if that approach spans across decades and generally works for me.