Success is struggle: What are you willing to sacrifice?

Be honest, what are you really willing to sacrifice to achieve your goals?

• Drinking/ TV time/ Social media?
• Your fear of rejection/ failing?
• Your desire to be right? Your pride?
• The comfort of staying as you are?
• Your warm bed in the morning?

 It turns out that delayed gratification (sacrificing now, for greater gains later) is the key to success.

Psychologists at Stanford University set up a study about gratification involving kids, professors and marshmallows.

The professors gave the kids a choice…

They could either eat one big, fat, tasty marshmallow.

Or…

If they could resist eating it for 15 minutes, they could have two big fat tasty marshmallows.

The findings were unexpected.

When tested in later life, the kids who could wait longer for a reward, tended to have better life outcomes: better grades, educational attainment and a (surprisingly) lower body mass index.

They got twice as much marshmallow… BUT they had the power to control their eating. The power to resist instant gratification.

This is very true in other areas of life.

To be successful there is always some kind of sacrifice.

Some kind of struggle. The hard road over the easy road. The right choice over the wrong.

• You cannot be great at sales without trying, and being rejected, thousands of times and still bounce back, learning and growing and trying again.
• You cannot be an incredible public speaker without putting yourself in the spotlight repeatedly, trying improv classes, learning comedy and storytelling, taking risks, trying new things, and enjoying the failure.
• You cannot overcome anxiety without sacrificing your time every single day to do the stuff that helps: writing down your thoughts, re-framing them, meditating, visualising, using breathwork, exercising daily, getting help, eating well, getting rid of the booze, whatever it takes.
• You cannot be in a great loving relationship if you do not sacrifice your desire to win and be right, for the sake of the other person. To sacrifice the time, care and heartfelt attention a relationship needs. 

Success stems from the ability to sacrifice now to reap greater gains later.

The good thing is that the longer you “sacrifice” something, the less it seems like a sacrifice.

The struggle becomes the reward. 

You become used to those 5am starts, swallowing your pride, controlling reactions, saying “no” to the booze, saying "yes" to the challenge…

• You become the person with the clear head who gets up at 5am.
• You become the person who exercises every day.
• You become the person who says "no" to the bad habits and "yes" to the good.
• You become the person storytelling from the stage.
• You become the person with the pipeline full of opportunities.

…until soon it becomes a habit and you don’t even notice it any more. That gives you more confidence and belief in yourself, creating a positive upward spiral.

Your struggles determine your success.

Overcoming your struggles is your success.

It all boils down to... What are you willing to sacrifice?

Have a smashing week,

Jen

We help teams create the strategy, mindset and high-performing habits for success.

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