The Art of Sacrifice, What Will You Give to Get What You Want?
"The only way to obtain what you wish in life is to give up something you enjoy. You decide what it is and for how long."
There’s something you desperately desire. You know what it is, but you don’t believe you can have it. The reason you don’t believe you can have it is because, what you have to do to get it makes you uncomfortable. That’s okay.
We all have a wall standing between us and what we really want, that is until you decide to crush, climb over, or demolish it. So how do you overcome the wall? Simple.
The only way to obtain what you wish in life is to give up something you enjoy. You decide what it is and for how long.
The question to ask yourself is, ‘what do I need to give up to get what I want?’ What you choose to give up will create a void in your day. In other words, when you give up something you enjoy, you will then have time and energy available to put towards getting what you want.
Eat Right and You’ll Have More Time
When I decided I wanted to start my writing company, I realized that I would need to forgo a great many of my favorite activities if I wanted to generate a consistent income. For example, I could no longer eat the wrong foods. Doing so would require me to both sleep and relieve myself more often.
These activities quickly turn into a waste of time (and a loss of money) and, over the course of a year, account for more than two weeks of your life (assuming you take one hour combined to eat and use the restroom everyday for a year).
By eating light healthy foods, my body and mind receive adequate nutrition (better and longer focus), I don’t have as much need for sleep (more time), and I don’t spend so much time in the bathroom “taking care of business” (even more time).
Often, I have fasted from food for days at a time so that my mind could be clear to operate at its peak. This is another form of sacrifice that can have major benefits if done wisely.
The single tweak of eating properly alone has been a worthy sacrifice as I also do not have to shop for a tremendous amount of food. What I eat is natural most of the time and can be found quickly in the produce section of any grocery store.
The additional time and energy that I have as a result of light and healthy eating has been channeled into writing and prospecting clients for my business. When I ate heavy foods, or overate, I had very little energy to spend on thinking, reading, and writing. In my business, the latter practices are skills that must be continuously sharpened.
The result of not improving these skills is certain failure. Since failure is not an option, I had a choice to make. Either I could continue to eat poorly, sleep in late, write less, and let my business fail, or I could mainly eat fruits and vegetables, have more energy, think clearer, read more, and write better and longer. I chose the latter and I’m much happier with this choice. This is what sacrifice looks like.
I Traded My Instrument for More Business Success
My instrument (the trumpet) was my life, however, I stopped playing to put in more time for my writing company. This was a heavy sacrifice for me to make but one I felt was necessary.
I grew up a musician and have probably put in the neighborhood of about ten thousand hours towards my former goal of becoming a professional musician. I used to eat, sleep, and breathe music until I realized my talents were better suited for constructing the written word.
With a heavy, but excited heart, I let go of music as my primary outlet for expression and turned my attention to the art of writing and the practice of business. I knew that if I didn’t give up my attachment to music, one in which I could easily–and often did–practice for two to four hours daily, I’d never be able to materialize my goal of becoming a successful entrepreneur in the writing space.
Once I put down my instrument and utilized my additional time to become a better writer, I found more business for myself. No matter what your goal is, you must be willing to exchange something that brings you pleasure for something that you deem more valuable.
If you are, you’ll increase your chances of obtaining the desire that is more valuable to you. As you actively work to manifest your desired reality, this is the ‘secret’ you want to employ.
Again, one needs time in order to achieve any goal. We all have the same 24 hours per day/168 hours per week. What we choose to do with our time is what separates those who get what they want from those who don’t.
What Sacrifice Will You Make To Maintain Your Gains?
After you get what you want, you next have to consider the level of sacrifice necessary to keep or maintain what you’ve earned. Let’s say you’ve acquired the sum of money you wish to have, the fitness level you fought so hard to achieve, and the certification you’ve studied so assiduously to obtain. Are you to now stop sacrificing? After all, you’ve accomplished the greater good. Your goals have been met and it feels pretty damned good to be alive.
The answer is of course a resounding, NO. Even though you’ve reached your goals, you have to continue to make sacrifices. They may not be of the same intensity but you have to ensure that you continue to honor yourself through the hard work of sacrifice. It’s all about the exchange you make now for what you want in the future.
If you wish to make sure that you remain wealthy, you will have to take the time to read and study the markets, heighten your business acumen, find ways to improve your product or services, and generally refrain from making choices that will cause you to lose money.
Continue and improve upon the habits that brought you wealth if you want to maintain your position.
Kobe Bryant trained religiously even at the height of his game. Why? He was certainly already good enough to take on any player in the league and dominate them. The reason he trained so relentlessly was that he absolutely needed to control the court and everyone on it. He knew the only way to do so was through repetition. Kobe could take no days off if he wanted supreme dominance. He simply had no interest in merely being competitive.
If we fail to regularly repeat and improve upon our skills, we will lose them and our edge. Anyone who has sacrificed to develop a habit of going to the gym, playing a sport, or reading books will tell you how difficult it is to get back into the swing after being out of practice for a while.
The ideology of sacrifice is applicable to your financial status, personal fitness and intellectual life. If you wish to maintain yourself and continue to excel in these areas, you’ll have to sacrifice time consistently to ensure that you don’t fall out of shape.
The Choice To Sacrifice is Yours
Remember that you choose what you wish to sacrifice and for how long. More importantly, you choose why you will sacrifice. Humans are inclined to aspire towards beauty. We have an almost spiritual appreciation for it. As such, we are innocently inspired to capture life’s grandest treasures.
Some of us desire more than others and those that do will naturally sacrifice more, and perhaps, for longer than others to get what they wish. Whatever it is you desire, know that it comes as a result of what you do with your time.
Whenever you give up something of lesser value for something of perceived higher value you will invoke the very spirit of sacrifice and generally speaking, you will get what it is you want. So, what will you give up to get what you want?