[jamesbkel]

I think this boils to down to definition of working hard. For a lot of my friends, that would mean "working more at the same thing".

I've been in the same situation as described in the OP, but I would call it "working hard at something new". That may entail more work, but man, once you nail it, that's a great feeling. You're not going to get that when you go from 100 support tickets/day to 1000 or even 10,000 - or something similarly routine.

Often, once I actually explain what I was doing during that 120hr week or all-nighter my friends typically respond: "Oh, that's pretty cool. I wish I did stuff like that."

I'm not saying friend and family aren't important, but I think this quote from the OP sums it up:

>However, sometimes I do get caught up in chasing my dreams and forget to make time for friends and family.