To become great, you need to make sacrifices.
Most of the greatness in life comes from compound interests. And you need to pick few things to do for a long period of time. To be able to do this you need to give up some things.
Also, most of the benefits in life require giving up pleasure and comfort in the short term – and even pain to finally acquire great life in the long term.
Think about going to the gym. You struggle in the present, feel pain, you make micro damages to the muscles so that they can grow. And one day you finally become much stronger physically and mentally, healthier and more attractive
It will give you time to do important things, your energy will go higher if you remove bad things. We all need that.
What is a Sacrifice?
Sacrifice was the sacred act that was the offering of something of value (usually animals) to divinity. It has been in our culture for thousands of years.
However, these days sacrifice means one of the following:
Sacrifice is doing something hard in the present that will benefit you in the future.
Sacrifice is giving up something you’re attached to, to get something even better
Wanting something means you are ready for a Sacrifice. That’s the second side of the coin. There are no benefits without a cost attached to it. To put it simply – there’s nothing for free in the world.
The questions now arise – What should I sacrifice and for what?
You should give up the part of you that is holding your perfect self back. You need to burn the deadwood in other words.
Deadwood
People have been trying to prevent forest fires for a long time. However, if you don’t let forest fires burn, then tree branches die and wood falls on the forest floor and collects and so the amount of flammable material keeps increasing with time. And when it gets really dry then it burns that hot that it reaches the roots of the trees and it completely destroys the whole forest.
The trees are built the way that can withstand small forest fires. And some of them won’t even release their seeds unless there’s been a fire.
So, you need a small fire in your life.
It is infinitely better to make sacrifices voluntarily and at the right time than when somebody makes you do that.
If you want to have more in life, you actually need to get rid of things instead of adding new things.
Let your insufficiencies burn off like deadwood.
Phoenix
Phoenix is an old motive that you might have seen in movies, like Harry Potter. It’s a mythological bird that comes from the ashes. It’s reborn after his death. Phoenix is associated with the sun.
Do you want to rise above all of your problems, be reborn like a phoenix?
If so, you should consider burning down all of the things that are useless about you. Only then you can prevail and rise in your life.
And the first step to doing that is actually recognizing that you have flaws.
Recognizing that is your ultimate responsibility to get your life in order so that you can grow. It’s not the responsibility nor fault of government, your colleagues, your wife, your childhood.
It’s YOU. You are the problem. And you’re the cure at the same time.
Taking responsibility for your life will make you reborn. You will be a different person.
What Should You Sacrifice?
I think that you already know what you should sacrifice. If you just ask yourself, the answers would come up automatically.
But if you’re still unsure let me suggest to you some areas that I think you should think about.
- Things that drain energy from you.
- Too many video games
- Toxic people around you
- Bad habits like smoking
- Relax time that is not high quality – like mindlessly watching YT.
Instead, aim for a high-quality fun time, like going out with your friends, some crazy adventures or things you have always wanted to do.
- Things that you spend your time on but are not your priorities.
Saying YES to 1 thing means saying NO to many other things. That’s why it is crucial to prioritize your work and discard all the things that neither are crucial for your work nor give you some pleasure or meaning.
- Things that stay on the way to your goals.
It might be toxic friends, your environment, your city. If something is slowing you down on the path to your goals, then you should consider switching your environment.
Benefits of Adopting This Mindset
- You will have more time for more meaningful things
- You will remove a lot of stress
- You will focus on what is important
What to do now?
Think of your life as a mythological theme. You’re doing great things by making sacrifices.
Think about 1 thing that you could sacrifice (let go) today to have a better life – more time, more energy for the things that matter to you the most.
Then: Make a list of 10 things that you could give up to Make your life better.
Burn down all that’s wrong with you and rise up like a Phoenix from the ashes.