Greetings Dear Friends,

It’s well established fact every success comes with a price. You may have heard of the saying “Rome wasn’t built in a day. Just like the building of a house has a foundation, every worthwhile project must have a foundation.  In the same way, true success comes with a price. Per B.C Forbes, “A price has to be paid for success. Almost invariably those who have reached the summits worked harder and longer, studied and planned more assiduously, practiced more self-denial, overcame more difficulties than those of us who have not risen so far.”

In the journey of life, we are all bound by the decision/choice we make in life regardless of the consequence. That’s why it’s always important for one to critically evaluate every direction one decides to take. For instance, if you are driving and you miss an exit or a particular route, you’ll surely pay the price by taking the next available route/exit in order to get back on track. That said, it’s fair to say that every action we take comes with a corresponding reaction. In whatever you want to do in life, you have to pay the price for it. Just like parenting comes with responsibility, education, business, and succeeding comes with a price.

During the course of this article, we shall be addressing various component/price of success.

Success asks for Commitment:  

It’s worthy to note that the level of success that you achieve will be in direct proportion to the depth of your commitment. You must invest time and resources. It is the dedication and perseverance that you bring every day that will make all the difference in the end. Each and every one of us desires success, but the reality of the day is that only a few persons are ready to commit to the work. Just like relationship demands commitment from both parties, you have to pay the price before you can reap the fruit of your labor. When you decide to commit to a project, the whole world sets apart for you. According to Mario Andretti “Desire is the key to motivation, but its determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal — a commitment to excellence — that will enable you to attain the success you seek.”

Success demands hard work & Smart Work 

 The ultimate price that comes with success is hard work. You need to put in the work because nobody will do the work for you. Just like a farmer who plants crops with the hope of harvesting it, he/she must continually water and remove the weeds in order for the crops to mature very well. If he/she fails to do so, it will be hard to harvest the crops.  According to Vince Lombardi “The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand”.

Sacrifice:

 In the words of Napoleon Hill “Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice and is never the result of selfishness. One of the greatest prices every progressive being must pay to get what he/she needs is sacrifice. Sacrifice is seen as the dues you have to pay to get what you don’t have. In law, sacrifice is likened to consideration, which is the detriment or loss a party may have to forgo in order to gain/benefit. In some social parlance, sacrifice is seen as love a party must show for the significant other. Just like success is relative, sacrifice is also relative. You must continually ask yourself what you need to sacrifice to get what you desire.Ask yourself: What specifically must I sacrifice to achieve my goal? What habits and rituals must I sacrifice to attain this goal? What habits could actually sabotage me from attaining my desired outcome? Finally, the ultimate question is: Am I willing to make these sacrifices to obtain this goal? You simply cannot have your goal without making some necessary physical, financial, emotional, mental, and social sacrifices. As a word of advice, spend your time instead on other areas that will provide you with a greater return on your time.

Success requires you to Continuous learn

Sometimes we fail to get what we want because we haven’t learnt enough. According to Brian Tracy “Those people who develop the ability to continuously acquire new and better forms of knowledge that they can apply to their work and to their lives will be the movers and shakers in our society for the indefinite future.” Constant education is necessary in order to be successful at anything. Therefore, you need to continually ask yourself if you need a piece of specific knowledge, skills, tools or resources.

Fear Elimination

Fear is something that is likely to consistently hold you back from your desired objectives. Success demands that you overcome your fears and develop the necessary courage you need to pursue your goals with vigor and passion. Success demands that you have no fear if you want to achieve any kind of success in your life, When you are fully committed to something, nothing will sidetrack you. It doesn’t matter whether or not the sun comes up tomorrow, or whether or not the earth stops spinning on its axis. You must believe that no matter what happens no matter how badly you fail and how horrible this might make you feel — that failure is never an option. 

Success Demands You Make Difficult Choices

As you make progress along your journey towards your desired outcomes, success will demand that you make difficult choices about what you will do and about what you won’t do. It demands that you choose what you will and won’t sacrifice. It demands that you decide what’s the most important thing to focus on at any one time. Success demands that you choose who you will spend your time with, most importantly success demands that you make difficult daily choices about how you spend your time, energy and money. You must consistently invest your energy into meaningful tasks and goal congruent activities that will provide you with the highest long-term benefits. Spending your time on the wrong things could very well spell the difference between success and failure.

Let’s conclude by sharing some habit of success

 Identify your core values

What is important to you? Finding your core values may seem a bit off-topic when it comes to success, but creating goals that are in line with your values is key to creating intrinsic motivation. Sit and reflect on what you value most. Pick a handful of things and actually write them down. Remind yourself of your values every day, and reflect on whether you are honoring those values through your work.

Build the right mindset and have a plan

Visualize yourself having completed your goal in the exact time-frame you have chosen and the breakdown goals by week and by day, setting up a plan to reach your overall objective. Keep the number of tasks per day as low as you can, and focus on completing only your planned tasks for each day. Do the hardest things during your peak energy level.

Take risks

You must take risk to succeed in life. Push yourself. Go out of your comfort zone. This is the best way to learn, and the best way to make progress quickly.

Finally, there’s a general saying that the price of success entails the following:

1.      Staying up late at night to do some extra work.

2.      Waking up early morning to do some work.

3.      Having very few friends who understand & share the same values and vision with you

4.      You’ll definitely be misunderstood and that’s okay.

5.      You’ll be definitely feel overwhelmed., and that’s okay

6.      People will continually question your sanity and that’s okay.

7.      You have to be your own cheerleader.

In conclusion, if you want to go from where you are to where you want to be, you need to identify the price that needs to be paid and then proceed to pay it. Everything has a price to pay. Are you willing to pay for it?

Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the author of the acclaimed book Design Your Destiny – Actualizing Your Birthright To Success. He can be reached via henrous@gmail.com