It's been a while since I looked into it, but last time I checked, I couldn't find any evidence behind "hard work".
This article kind of sums it up: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/does-success-come...
> If you wake up in the morning full of vim and vigor, bounding out the door and into the world to take your shot, you didn't choose to be that way
Your coworkers that come into work early ready to crush through the workload in anticipation, and when the day is over, can't find the will to stop working, because frankly there is nothing outside their work that they are more passionate and excited about so they keep working. Well they are not finding it hard to do so, it's the opposite in fact, they'll find it hard to not work and do other things.
In your case, I think the conclusion is important as well:
> What if you've been unlucky in life? There should be consolation in the fact that studies show that what is important in the long run is not success so much as living a meaningful life. And that is the result of having family and friends, setting long-range goals, meeting challenges with courage and conviction, and being true to yourself.
Success is overated, and I've known people where success actually hid a deeper loss of enjoying life without self-judgement and constant comparison to others.