What Are You Willing To Sacrifice?

Do you want to avoid work that's difficult, tiring, stressful or boring in favor of the easy, relaxing and interesting work?

Well, of course you do. So does everybody else.

Most people choose the easy path, the one that avoids voluntary study, working late, coming in early, applying self-discipline, and seeking new challenges that force growth. Instead they spend their spare time watching TV, socializing with friends and going to the gym.

Of course there's nothing wrong with that. It's their life to live as they choose. Or to waste.

Those who take the easy path would like the extraordinary life, the big house, a great salary, a thin and toned body and a job where they get to do what interests them. But they aren't willing to make any meaningful sacrifices to get it. So they unwittingly push their dreams out of reach, and forgo their potential.

It's such a waste. By sacrificing just some of their time outside work, watching a little less TV, spending a little less time socializing, they could have radically improved their life. They had a dream life that waiting for them, just there for the taking. But as they continually neglect the pursuit of their dreams, those dreams edge out of reach, leaving a mediocre life that's comfortable, but one tenth of what it could have been. A life that's merely 'okay'.

Are you making the same mistake? Are you betraying yourself and your potential?

Here's how to tell. In the past year, how many times have you come in an hour early for work, or worked past 8pm? How many hundreds of hours have you spent voluntarily learning new skills and gaining new knowledge since you finished school/college? Has your salary doubled in the past five years? Is your job more senior than it was four years ago?

If the answers are disheartening, it's time you realized that the success to which you aspire is always going to be a pipe dream, unless you buckle down and make some sacrifices.

Hell, isn't your dream worth that sacrifice?

If your not the sort of person that is willing to make significant sacrifices to make your dream life a reality, this blog isn't really suitable for you. You're not serious about success.

If you are the sort of person who says they're willing to make sacrifices, it's time I called your bluff. What are you going to give up, in order to make your dream a reality, starting from today. How much extra time will you spend each day learning new skills and gaining new knowledge? How many extra hours will you be spending at work, to get on top of your workload, speed your delivery of results, and turn the quality of your work from 'good' to 'fantastic'?

Don't be gutless, here. A sacrifice has to made, whether you like it or not. Either you're to sacrifice the big opulent house, great salary, fit sexy body and the fantastic life, you dream of having. Or you're to sacrifice things that aren't even in the same league of importance to you, things you enjoy but that don't really matter.

You've got to sacrifice one or the other. You can't have both. You will frequently kid yourself that you can, but a quick glance at your previous attempts to have both will confirm that it's not been possible. A quick calculation of the yearly cost (in time, money, etc) of your 'enjoyable activity' will show that your 'harmless' activity seriously impacts your ability to reach your desired goal, that it slows you down significantly.

Visualize the activity you'll be cutting back or giving up, and put it side by side with your dream. Which will you choose? Which matters most? You can't have both. So which will you sacrifice?

That put things in perspective. The decision of which to sacrifice is simple and it's necessary.
So, get a piece of paper, and write down the following,

By sacrificing I'll make the following goal a reality for me:
... by the following date:
To help me achieve this, I'm going to give up the following activity/past-time/hobby:
And this one:
I'm going to reclaim the following number of hours / dollars I spend on these activities each year:
I'm going to spend this much time / money learning new skills and gaining new knowledge including the following topics that will help me reach my goal:
I'm going to spend this much extra time at work:
I will put in the extra time to turn the quality of my work from 'good' to 'fantastic' on these tasks that await me:
I'm going to volunteer to do the following tasks that will stretch my abilities and force me to grow:

I'm going to make these changes, starting right now.

If you haven't got a piece of paper in front of you with the above on it, STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING, and get one RIGHT NOW. You need to commit yourself, on paper, to what you're going to do. A vague aspiration in your head (that you'll forget about) just won't cut it.

Pick up a pen, write the commitment. Then sign it. If you're committed to making the sacrifice, you'll be willing to sign a written commitment to make it. If not willing to write a simple commitment, the chances that you'll be willing to make the sacrifice are minimal. You'll just drift, continually sacrificing your opportunities to realize your dream, in favor of enjoyable time-wasting. But, hey, it's your life to fuck up.

If you haven't got a written commitment in front of you, within the next three minutes, I don't want you to ever return to this web site.