Rarely would this happen.
If you want to be great at a sport, you will need to sacrifice dating time, drinking time, drifting time and put a lot of training in. Same with education, work, relationships, etc.
You’ll need to sacrifice time, comfort and ease for involvement, hard days and tough work.
It will be worth it in the end. But you have to believe it and live it now.
Most people are only going to chase their dream up to the point where they are happy to sacrifice to attain it.
For most, if they have to sacrifice more than they are happy to, then they give up on their goal.
If it isn’t easy enough, most folks aren’t willing to put in more sacrifice to make it happen.
For example, you may want to lose 30 pounds but only if you don’t have to get more sleep, go to bed earlier, cut out most alcohol, evening meals/snacks, tasty foods and daily treats.
If that’s what you’ll have to do, many just go through the motions, don’t really track progress, make body type excuses and remain as heavy as they are.
They may try again later in the hopes they have developed better discipline or science has changed and they won’t have to make any of the above sacrifices to reach their goal.
Or they just go to the gym or to a personal trainer in hope that some activity 2-3x per week will make up for the excesses they won’t give up elsewhere.
This can go on for 3 years or even 20 years. It will continue until the desired outcomee or goal becomes more important than the sacrifices and true, consistent change required to make the goal or outcome become a reality.
So save yourself 20 years of not trying enough / trying and make the sacrifices required or realise your goal is a wish not must, and give up on it.
What are you willing to forgo, or sacrifice, to reach your desired goal?
There is no free lunch.
What may be a little sacrifice to you, may mean the whole world to someone else. Giving up your comfort for someone else can be a real challenge. But once you do, you grow as a person. You realise what you can do without and how you can persevere. A lot of good can come from just one giving action.
It’s always exciting to watch someone in action when they’re driven to succeed. The planning, the grit, the grind and the discipline make you realise how tough it is to succeed at things.
What you call success, and how you measure it, is important. Moreover, success means different things to different people at different moments in their life. That is to say, things change, perspectives change and priorities change. Encourage people when they are making these changes.
In addition, how I measure success is probably different to how you do. For example, I may want to learn to play the piano for fun at family gatherings. However, you might be practicing to become a concert pianist and get paid to tickle the ivories at The Royal Albert Hall.
Regardless of how you look at success, it is personal. It is your view of success. Simply be honest with yourself when deciding what you would like to achieve and to what level. This should make you happier at the end of your days.
Just don’t sell yourself short. You really should go mad for your dream once in a while. Likewise, think carefully before you sacrifice everything for your dream. It may not be worth the price.
Whichever way you look at success, I think the quote below is valuable for those who are driven to succeed.
Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can do what others can’t.
Jerry Rice
Remember to stick to the long term thinking about your dream. This will require commitment, focus and some sacrifice in the now. But how nice will it feel when you arrive at that moment of success? All that hard work, effort and those re-purposed moments will make it all worthwhile.
Enjoy the journey!
You never really believed you would do it. Some friends said it would never happen. Somehow you were able to plug away at it, in your spare time and you made it quite an achievement. A fantastic accomplishment.
Remember to give yourself a pat on the back and to stand tall for every little and large achievement in your life. It’s important to set goals and work towards them. However, you need to remember to celebrate often. Whatever that looks like these days (wine, meditation, favourite chocolate bar, gym time or a snooze button).
When you sign up to something, it is important to move it forward and to see it through. It makes you feel good that you accomplished something.
I recently mentioned that I was giving ? soon. Well, today was the day. It all went well, I am happy to report. I feel a little lighter and someone will have the benefit of my A+ blood to help them through whatever difficult time they are having. It was a nice feeling to donate. (Well, not the pin prick on the finger or the needle going in the arm, but those were overshadowed.)
I celebrated with some lemonade, some club bars and a lovely packet of salt & vinegar crisps. Perfect.
With what’s going on in the world, get out there and do something life changing. Let me know what it is!
