I think hard work does pay off, but people have trouble when they don't see instant results. I think part of it is learning how to delay gratification.

I can completely understand where you're coming from though. All my life I was the smartest, and told by everyone from parents to teachers to bosses. I never knew what I wanted to do though. I went to school, and tried many, many things. I excelled in pretty much all of them, but could never find something that seemed to fit. So I worked shitty jobs, trying to pay for school and pay off the rest of my school loans. I didn't have enough money to buy a house for myself, and at 29 living at home I often wondered how I squandered the gifts I'd been given.

It certainly didn't help comparing myself to my grandfather and his father, since my grandfather had already gotten his PhD in Nuclear Physics from MIT before he was my age or his dad who worked on the Manhattan Project. There were times I honestly felt that I deserved my position because I should've just stuck with something even though I didn't like it.

Then, someone took a chance on me. They heard of me through acquaintances, and I guess saw some potential. They gave me a job even though I readily admitted that I didn't know anything on the subject. That was nearly two years ago now. Just a week or so ago I was given employee of the year. From where I was to where I am not even two years later I've more than quadrupled my income with seemingly no end in sight, and I'm closing on my house next week.

I'm telling you this so you can realize how quickly things might change, and make no mistake I bust my ass everyday at my job because I don't want to let the people who took a chance on me down. It's also to tell you that because I thought myself unworthy of the job I very nearly didn't take the interview at all. I didn't know anything about the field, and reasoned that it would be a waste of everyone's time. At the time I had one other person who completely believed in me, and she convinced me to go.

My life would be completely different if I had given in to my doubt, and my friend, later girlfriend, might never fully comprehend how pivotal a role she played in all this.

TL:DR: I thought the same way, and then my life turned around. Sure I got given a chance, but I might not have ever gotten that chance or would've surely wasted it if I gave up or didn't work hard. You need to work hard so that you can take advantage when an opportunity arises. Don't get discouraged and give up.