"Without hard work and discipline it is difficult to be a top professional"
About this Quote
The pairing of “hard work” and “discipline” matters because it separates effort from structure. Plenty of people work hard when they feel like it, when the season is new, when the audience is watching. Discipline is the unglamorous machinery that keeps effort consistent when motivation drops or when winning has already arrived. Coming from Khan, the subtext is also cultural: a South Asian sporting icon speaking to a world that often romanticizes “natural ability” in athletes from outside the West. He’s reclaiming the narrative from genetics and grit-mythology to routine and self-control.
There’s a quieter edge, too: “top professional” isn’t just about trophies. It’s a standard of conduct, repetition, and restraint. Khan is describing the private life of excellence - the training session no one posts, the diet no one praises, the boredom you endure because your competitors will. The intent is less to motivate than to demystify: greatness isn’t a spark. It’s a schedule.
Quote Details
| Topic | Work Ethic |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Khan, Jahangir. (2026, January 14). Without hard work and discipline it is difficult to be a top professional. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/without-hard-work-and-discipline-it-is-difficult-146894/
Chicago Style
Khan, Jahangir. "Without hard work and discipline it is difficult to be a top professional." FixQuotes. January 14, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/without-hard-work-and-discipline-it-is-difficult-146894/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Without hard work and discipline it is difficult to be a top professional." FixQuotes, 14 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/without-hard-work-and-discipline-it-is-difficult-146894/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.







