Sacrifice Must Have Value

You've heard the clichés 'nothing ventured, nothing lost' or 'no pain, no gain'. What do they mean; besides the obvious? I think they are referring to sacrifices and the concept that you have to give in order to get. What you give needs to be big and important and worth it, otherwise it doesn't really count as a sacrifice.

 

So, the BIG question is what do you hope to accomplish? What is your goal? The even BIGGER question is what are willing to sacrifice in order to achieve it? Your time? Your money? Your sweat and effort? Or how about your pride? What things are so important to you that to give up even a little of it will be huge?

 

Everyone's goals, dreams and struggles are as unique as snowflakes; no two are going to be the same. In the same way each sacrifice is going to be different, as well. What is important to one person is going to be entirely different than the person standing next to them in the grocery store check out line - and that's okay. That's as it should be.

Setting a goal is the first step; whether it's for a better lifestyle or a new job or if it's something necessary to overcome an injury or disease. Set the goal and think about how important it is to you, to your family, etc. Think about what it will take to tackle it head on. Think about what that will mean; how much time will it take, what will it cost, and how involved will YOU need to be in the process. Then decide how you can make it actually happen. What will you need to sacrifice? How will you readjust your schedule to make the time needed? Will you be able to cut back on a certain expense to have the extra money you may need? Can you dig deep and allow yourself to put your pride aside if you need to ask for help?

The sacrifice must have value or it's not a sacrifice.

What goal pushes you?

Every one has a goal or a dream - something that pushes them to go forward. What's yours? More importantly, have you succeeded? If you have, that's awesome, amazing, and you should be so proud of yourself. If you haven't succeeded yet, why is that? Are you just at the beginning of the journey and there just hasn't been enough time yet for your goal to fully develop? Do you lack the right motivation? Do you worry that people won't like what you've accomplished?

I constantly hear about musicians, artists, business entrepreneurs, and 'yes' even writers who slow down when things are moving along at a good pace because something spooks them. If we're being completely honest I think we all get scared of succeeding (at least sometimes). If you're constantly striving forward toward the one thing you've always thought you wanted it's only naturally to stop and wonder, 'What happens when I get there?' 'Will I have to come up with a new goal?' 'What if people are disappointed in what I've created?'

Now we need to stop and ask ourselves a few questions. Does that special goal or dream make you happy? Are you trying to achieve it for yourself OR for others? And lastly, what do you hope to achieve by reaching it? It's o.k. to get nervous and be apprehensive (to a point), for that fact it's more than o.k.. But always remember that a goal or a dream is something that you've chosen for yourself. Only put as much effort and energy into it as the result you hope to get out of it. Only you can decide when your goal is worthy of your effort. For your sake though, I hope it is. 

I can't wait to see all your goals and dream evolve. So ... what are you working towards right now? And more importantly how is it going?