Time is 3:59 AM.
I am feeling tired from the day’s work.
Sleeping should be the first thing on my mind right now.
But like everything in life, success too demands a cost or sacrifice.
The question is, are we willing to pay that cost? Most aren’t. That’s why most aren’t successful. Those who are, see their efforts rewarded in the end.
Why is there a cost?
That is by design, to weed out the undeserving.
The world was constructed in such a way so that only the deserving achieved success. That is also a lie though. Success in life depends on a lot of factors other than your hard work. But it’s the only thing that is under our control so we can’t ignore it.
There is a trough before a crest.
A hero rises against some resistance. If there is no turbulence, life withers away. This happens with plants, animals, and every life form. A caterpillar must face the resistance of the outer shell before taking its final form as a beautiful butterfly.
Similarly, we humans must show this world or the universe that we merit the reward that we seek.
Why should you pay the cost?
I am writing this article in the early morning hours after being tired as hell. Why am I doing this?
Because I made a commitment to myself that I will write daily, no matter what. If I am willing to sacrifice my sleep for it, then this must be important to me. That is the signal that I am sending out to my brain.
This means that thing becomes a part of my identity. This is who I am, now at this moment. I am not an aspiring writer. I will not become a writer in the future. I am one, now.
We are what we do repeatedly, not what we say.
If you continue sacrificing you will attain success sooner or later.
Here’s what Henry David Thoreau says about this
“The cost of a thing is the amount of … life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.”
Source: Walden, James Clear newsletter
He talks about the amount of life that we need to exchange in order to get what we want.
That is the cost that we all must pay. The hours that we spend on that thing, we might have spent on another. By saying yes to one thing we say no to another.
Therefore, we must choose the thing carefully.
How can we choose the thing for which we must sacrifice?
This would be personal and depend on every person.
A simple answer would be to watch out for things that genuinely interest you and for which you are immensely curious.
Or the goal that you want to achieve with all your heart.
Don’t follow the herd on this one. Focus on your own heart and mind. What field, subject excites you?
This can be seen in reverse too.
Like, the area or field or subject for which you are willing to sacrifice, it means that is the thing you should pursue in the long term too.
Pay the price, and show to yourself that you are a fair candidate for success.
I write daily here on my blog. There is no limit to the word count. I am not focusing on any topic here. I want to build a daily writing habit. This is Day 44 of the Daily Writing Challenge in 2022.