Everything in life comes with a price. Sometimes it is a small, negligible, barely-even-noticed-it price, which is easily and often unconsciously paid. Sometimes it is a bigger price, calling into question... are we willing to pay it? Everyone focuses on success; what it means to them, how it would change their life, how much they want 'it'. In focusing only on the desired end result, they then use that to measure where they are at, often berating themselves for not being successful 'yet'. However, they may not be using an accurate measure for themselves of what they 'truly' want to achieve.
People focus on what they would like to 'have', but fail to focus on what it takes to get there. If you aren't willing to do what is required to get there, pick a different destination, otherwise you are setting yourself up to fail before you begin. If you select goals for yourself that you have no intention of EVER doing the work needed to complete it, how could you ever manage to achieve it?
No one has even succeeded without paying a price.
John Maxwell, (Leadership expert, Author, Pastor, Speaker extraordinaire) tells a story of delivering a speech one day and being approached afterword by a young man who looked at him and said... 'I want to do what you are doing!' John looked at the young man, smiled and said... 'Of course you do son, but the true question for you is whether you are willing to do everything I have done to get here.'
People don't get great at something overnight. We all start out bad. There is a price to getting good at something, at developing your skill. There are sacrifices and choices 'the great' have made that have allowed them to build their skills to get to great. Are you willing to make those choices, those sacrifices?
It's easy to get caught up in the dream of success. But to truly become successful, you must immerse yourself in the actions that are needed to get you there. You need to be prepared to pay the price that's required for you to get where you want to go. If you are unwilling, it likely isn't the vision of success that you should hold. Create another. Your desire for the success you envision has to be bigger than the price you will need to pay. If it isn't, then it either isn't the right vision or it isn't big enough.
Opportunities exist around us, doors are there for us to open and walk through. But those doors stop opening for us when we stop being willing to pay the price that each door requires. We all hit a point when we are satisfied, when we have created the life we want, the vision we held. At this point, we likely aren't looking to open too many more doors at any price.
If we aren't there yet though, then we are still building, learning, creating and growing. We need to be prepared to pay the price for the opportunities we need and want to move forward in our Success Plan.
What is your definition of Success worth to you? If it isn't resonating within you, motivating and shaping your days, and you're not where you want to be in life, your definition and vision need a tune-up. Revise them until you have something worth working toward. The Vision has to be bigger than the Price if you are going to pay the price needed to move forward. It all comes down to one simple statement...
When we stop paying... we stop playing.
