All Things Inspired

Only by sacrifice are we able to do what we love!

If you read last week's article and obviously are now reading this week's, hopefully you are ready to pay the price of sacrifice to achieve your dreams and goals. Poet and philosopher, Henry David Thoreau said, "The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it." Will the temporary pain be worth the sacrifice? I would like to think that the answer is a resounding "Yes". I believe that only by sacrifice are we able to do what we love. Our passion is what fuels the notion of taking risks.

There are times that could lead to personal emotional struggle, a tug of war with your inherent ideas and adopting a new approach to doing things. The sacrifice of negative habits is critical in achieving success. For, if you are not able to shed the negative habits, they will be the restraints that limit your potential for success.

Last week we answered the first two of four vital questions in addressing the topic of making sacrifices. We answered the question of why sacrifice is so important and what sacrifice looks like. Now, let's jump into answering the next two questions. Knowing what you know so far concerning sacrifice, how should you approach making sacrifices?

It's been said that if you don't pay the price, you don't get the prize. But first let's understand what the prize really is. Achieving success is what we've outlined in this topic as the desired result. What we need to understand is the achievement of success is defined more by what you sacrifice than what you are willing to do achieve success. Here are some sensible tips for how you should approach sacrifice...

Approach sacrifices by first sacrificing your negative habits. As we mentioned earlier, this is critical in achieving success because if you fail to do so, the negative habits become restraints that limit your potential.
You must take the approach that you cannot please everyone, nor should you. We all want to be liked and appreciated, as well as not having the feeling of letting someone down. You must get comfortable with saying "no". Be selective on the "yeses" and don't fear upsetting others by saying "no".
Approach sacrifices by saying goodbye to the current version of you. If you are following the course of these articles in this series, The Fundamental Steps to Transformational Growth, it means that you want to become a better version of yourself. Chances are that the results you've been getting as the current version of you are not the results you desire. You can grow into that new improved version. When you catch yourself reverting to your old ways, conscientiously reverse your approach to the new, open-minded approach.
Your approach must include taking risks as success requires it. Risk taking can be uncomfortable and create instability. Here's a simple fact, to achieve success, you need to stop searching for comfort or stability. Success can only be found beyond your comfort zone.
Approach sacrifices by surrounding yourself with supportive people. Whether we realize it or not, those we spend the most time with tend to have the biggest impact on our behaviors and attitudes. Is their influence on you positive of negative? The late motivational speaker, Jim Rohn summed up this situation perfectly by saying, "You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with."

While you can see that there are several approaches to sacrifice, even more beyond what I've listed here, is fear keeping you from choosing an approach? What if you're unable to find an approach that works for you? If you recall from the first part of this topic last week, we noted a quote from British author, Jay Shetty that said, "If you don't want to sacrifice for what you want, then what you want becomes the sacrifice." Repeat this quote to yourself several times, then focus on trying an approach. If that doesn't work, try another one, and keep trying until you find an approach that will lead you to sacrifice.

When you begin to sacrifice, this path will lead you to rewards. And with that, we answer the 4th and final vital question on the topic of sacrifice; what are the rewards of sacrifice? They could include achievement of success as we targeted as the desired result. It could be possibly something different for you, or in addition to success.

Just know that the reward should always outweigh the sacrifice, otherwise there is no benefit of sacrifice. We know that sacrifice is temporary, thus the reward of your sacrifice should outlast the time dedicated to the sacrifice, in other words long-term success. Sense of accomplishment, pride in reaching your goal or goals, fulfillment of overcoming the challenges, and the affirmation of that which you practiced achieving are all rewards of sacrifice.

Success, like anything worthwhile, rarely comes easy. It is inescapable that you will make sacrifices along the way. In this blog topic we've fixed our focus on four questions; why sacrifice is so important, what sacrifice looks like, how to approach sacrifice, and the rewards of our sacrifice. Now you must determine what you are willing to sacrifice. And again, remember that you shouldn't make sacrifices at the expense of your health, happiness, or family. Of what you're then willing to sacrifice, you need to decide what you must sacrifice.

We know that sacrifice isn't always only for the benefit of our own success, but that the sacrifice and the achievement of our goals may also influence others, such as family, friends, or co-workers. You must have the attitude that if we only do this for ourselves, then our efforts die when we do. However, if we set our focus for others, the impact of our sacrifices and successes will remain long after we are gone. Choose your sacrifices but choose wisely and revel in your achievements! You can do it! You can...

Be inspired! Inspire others!