Hard work in itself isn't necessarily valuable. Smart work is.

It's vital to learn early on that you have to put in the work if you want to achieve anything at all. Merely being gifted or naturally good at something certainly is not enough.

However, I'd say it's just as important to understand the purpose behind any kind of work and to be able to question how things are usually done.

Achieving the same or better results with less work is what will set you apart.