1. Sacrificing
Who You Are
The end goal you have in mind requires that you
shift how you think, what you believe, the habits you indulge in, and maybe
even the values you live by. In fact, it’s very possible that you might need to
become a very different person than the person you are today in order to have
this goal in your life. And if you’re unable, or simply unwilling to make these
sacrifices/changes, then it’s likely that the goal you desire will always be
out of reach. Ask yourself:
·
What
beliefs must I sacrifice to attain this goal?
·
What
beliefs could actually prevent me from having this goal?
·
What
habits and rituals must I sacrifice to attain this goal?
·
What
habits could actually sabotage me from attaining my desired outcome?
·
What
values might I need to shift in order to have this goal?
·
What does
this goal demand that I change about myself?
·
How will
I make the necessary changes?
You need to be willing to sacrifice the person you
are today (without this goal) for the person you will be tomorrow (with this
goal). These two people are not the same. And if you don’t believe that, then
you will soon find out the hard way that life only gives you something of value
when you are willing to grow into this new experience on a personal level. This
means changing who you are for who you need to become to ultimately deserve
having this goal in your life.
2. Eliminating
Distracting Activities
Your success is dependent on your commitment to
eliminating all the distracting activities that could potentially side-track
you from your ultimate destination. These are essentially the things that you
indulge in on a daily basis that make you feel good but aren’t good for you.
These are your guilty pleasures such as mindlessly surfing the Internet,
playing video games or watching television shows and movies. All these things
may feel good in the moment, however, long-term they will only delay what you
really want most out of life.
3. Paying
the Price in Full
The moment you commit yourself towards the pursuit
of a specific goal is the moment you must also commit yourself to the price you
will need to pay to attain this goal.
Your goal always comes with strings attached. You
simply cannot have your goal without making some necessary physical, financial,
emotional, mental, and social sacrifices.
Have a think about your goal and also have a good
hard think about the potential sacrifices you might need to make in specific
areas of your life to help bring this goal to fruition. Who knows, you might
even come to the realization that this goal you want so badly just doesn’t seem
worth the effort. Because if you’re not willing to make the necessary
sacrifices, then you shouldn’t be spending your time pursuing this goal. Spend
your time instead on other areas that will provide you with a greater return on
your time.
4. Letting Go of Conflicts
Sometimes you will make all these sacrifices to
create room to achieve your goal, but you still don’t seem to be moving forward
as quickly as you had imagined. This is very typical and it often results from
a number of conflicts you have in your life that on the surface may not seem as
though they are conflicting with your goal.
First and most importantly, conflicts may arise
when you have conflicting goals. You might, in fact, have other goals that you
are working towards that are competing for your time, energy and money. You are
essentially spreading yourself too thin and as a result, you don’t have the
laser focus required to create the momentum you need to get things done.
Have a think in particular about all the small and
medium-sized goals that you are consciously and unconsciously working towards.
These could be the goals that are sabotaging you from moving forward. You must
decide today that you will either change them or eliminate them altogether.
There’s no point holding onto these goals if they will keep you from reaching
your ultimate destination.
As with conflicting goals, also have a think about
any conflicting responsibilities and commitments that you might have. These are
the things that are taking up your time and resources that you could instead be
investing in your main objective. Cut these things from your life, and you will
suddenly find yourself freed up to focus on the most important things in life.
Conflicts can also come in the form of destructive
relationships. These are often the people who do not support you or your goals.
At other times though, they can actually be the people who support you,
however, they continue to sabotage you by distracting you from your highest
priority activities. Let these relationships go if you can. There is no point
holding onto your past if it doesn’t serve your future.
5.
Time
We all have the same 24 hours and we all have the opportunity
to use our time wisely. When we sacrifice time, we’re prioritizing a
certain task over another one. That task and all the others we accomplish – are
the key to our success.
I write
to-do lists every day and I stick to them. I set my own deadlines. I try my
best not to procrastinate. But if I do, I don’t beat myself up about it.
Negative self-talk and thinking, “I wish I had more time” simply
takes away the time you still have! You can think, “I only have 20
minutes to do my work.” or you can think more positively, “I have 20 minutes to
do my work. If I use this time wisely, I’ll be 20 minutes closer to finishing
the task.” If we don’t make better use of our time and achieve our small goals,
then we’ll never achieve the bigger ones that are most important to us.
6.
Personal life
When we
are determined to succeed, we have to make changes in our personal lives – in
our friendships and our relationships. It’s not about neglecting your loved
ones – it’s about working around your personal life.
Each one
of us has their responsibilities and sometimes we simply have to
compromise with other people. If we don’t learn to say ‘no’ or give up a night
out with friends to study/work, we are the ones who suffer. These are the
moments in our life when we have to think of our needs, be sensitive to our
loved ones’ feelings and hope that they’ll understand that we need to do what’s
best for us.
7.
Sleep
Sometimes,
no matter how productive you are during the day, you need those extra hours at
night. Without those extra periods of peace and quiet, you may not be able to
get everything done. For those wanting to achieve success, the rewarding
feeling they get when they’ve accomplished
their task always makes the reduced amount of sleep worth it.
8.
Health
The
reality is, when we’re determined to achieve our goals, we might start to
neglect our bodies and our minds. We start to eat less healthy, do less
exercise or maybe reduce it to none at all, we might even put our emotional and
mental health at risk. It may not be the most ideal thing to do, but those
determined to be successful know that it’s only a temporary solution.
We may
not be able to put our full attention into our physical, mental and emotional
health but we have to be aware of when our body is being overworked.
Successful people may start to neglect parts of their life in order to improve
other parts of their life. But this can only last for a while. Sooner or later
you have to live a healthier life or you’ll regret it in the future.
9. Sanity
There are
days when successful people are feeling more stressed, tired and
overworked than on others. There are days when they question whether what
I’m doing is really worth it. But I know it is. Working hard towards our big
goals in life was never meant to be easy. These goals and aspirations for the
future are meant to test us, challenge us, and help us to realize how badly we
really want them.
Maybe
your family and friends call you crazy for working so hard. But you need to do
what’s right for you. Don’t forget to take breaks, to relax when you really
need to, to take time out for yourself. But know that in those
temporary crazy moments, you are a step closer to having what you truly want.
10. Immediate desires
There are
so many things that each of us wants right now. Things that might
encourage us to procrastinate when we really shouldn’t. We might want to do
something simple like check our Facebook feed. We might want to do something
more significant like buy a new car. But the question is – what is most
important to us? We have to make the choice between our immediate
desires and the needs that will propel our dreams forward.
Fact is,
it’s not wrong of us to have these immediate desires, these temptations to
choose the ‘easier’ option’. It’s normal to feel that way. However, when we
sacrifice what we want right now, we are saving our time and energy for
something more important. Something that will bring us one step closer to our
real goals. Something we truly want, not just something we want right now.
Maybe we
don’t want to sacrifice our time, stability, personal life, sleep, health,
stillness and sanity. Maybe it just feels too difficult. But I’ll tell you
right now, I’ve sacrificed every one of these things at one point or another. I
wouldn’t have gone from writing on a personal blog to working as a
freelance writer/journalist, if I had chosen the easier option. I wouldn’t have
grown as a person if I hadn’t made those sacrifices either.
If
you want to be successful and achieve what you really want in life, you’ll have
to make sacrifices. But when you reach the end of that mountain, you’ll be so
very glad that you never gave up the journey
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