Sacrifice and the Altar of Fortune: How to Give Up Things for the Ultimate Prize

In order to achieve success, you’ll have to give some things up. This inevitably means you will have to sacrifice for it.

Sacrifice inevitably means you’ll have to have some measure of self-discipline.

In this article, I’m going to go into:

• Why sacrifice is necessary if you want true and lasting success
• Why success is so illusive
• The relationship between self-discipline and sacrifice

Let’s get into it.

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Sacrificing for Success: The Test and the Promise

“He who would accomplish little need sacrifice little; he who would achieve much must sacrifice much. He who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly.” – James Allen, As A Man Thinketh

Sacrifice is a word that is recoiled at in our modern day vernacular…but it’s the only REAL thing that will guarantee success. We all sacrifice something in order to gain something else.

The working man sacrifices a majority of his waking hours for a salary.

The musician sacrifices nights out with friends to trade for greater proficiency in his instrument.

The athlete sacrifices his body on long grueling practice sessions at a shot to attain fame and money.

The person who wishes to attain some degree of self-mastery must watch their thoughts and actions with vigilance.

Sacrifice is very closely related to the notion of Compensation. In fact, they are like twin sisters peering down at mortals from their heavenly firmament, watching their every move.

I have always likened “good luck” or “fortune“ to a spirit. This spirit is very fickle, deciding to bless some and ignore others.

What I have noticed however, is that this spirit is very appeased by “sacrificial” offerings. Some of these offerings (along with a various laundry list) are:

• Money
• Sleep
• Instant Gratification/Pleasure

Above all, its favorite offering is time. Fortune knows that time is the only thing we possess much of but never seem to spend wisely.

So when a mere mortal sacrifices their time for success, Fortune tends to bless that person.

Understanding the Relationship Between Cause & Effect and Sacrifice

Imagine this: a person walks off of a building.

What’s the result? Does he sprout wings and fly? Most likely not.

But what if he didn’t know?

It doesn’t matter if he “didn’t know”. Gravity is neutral. Gravity doesn’t care. In fact, gravity is only a mere servant to this supreme law: the law of cause and effect.

Every action has a consequence, no matter how big or small. Walking off of a building is the cause. Slamming into the street below is the effect. It is impossible to separate the two. Without it, we would have chaos.

How is this related to sacrificing for what you want?

Sacrifice is the cause. Compensation is the effect.

You must give (up) in order to get. Theres’s no way around it.

Here’s the cool part though – you will get in proportion to what you give (and many times, much more).

If not now, then some time down the road.

Let’s say you decided to give up some of your time in order to learn a new skill. You could have spent that time doing many other things but instead you decided that this skill was more important. Well…was it?

If you want a certain lifestyle, don’t ask if you want the lifestyle. Ask if you want the pain that comes with it.

What do I mean by that?

Let’s say you want to reach a high level in a certain area of life. Well, what is involved with that? Usually it’s one of the following

• Slow, steady incremental improvements
• Deliberate practice
• Deep work and mastery
• A heaping helping of self-discipline

This is why I sort of chuckle to myself when people think that people with a ton of money or success have no problems. If anything, they have more.

Not only have they sacrificed a ton in sweat equity to reach their platform…but they also have a ton of other things to contend with that other people don’t.

Keys to Sacrificing for Success

If you want to be blessed by the good graces of Fortune, you have to know how to use the Law of Sacrifice to your advantage. Here’s some steps to get started.

1. Are you disciplined?

Self-discipline is the cornerstone of all achievement.

Without self-discipline and self-mastery, nothing is possible. With it, everything is possible.

Self-discipline comes in a variety of forms and is applicable to any situation. But the best description I can give is:

the act of corralling and marshaling your emotions, behavior, and mental resources to achieve a goal or intention that would not be achieved in the absence of this intention.

People who are truly self-disciplined are rare. They end up using the Law of Sacrifice unintentionally and usually end up achieving great things.

2. No pain, no gain

There’s a reason why this saying is popular.

There’s a reason why this saying is so popular…because it’s true.

You don’t build the muscle without breaking it down first.

You don’t build the business empire by hanging back and not using any of your own money.

You don’t become a Rhodes scholar without the hours of countless study.

You need to have your skin in this game.

Only you can decide what you’re going to sacrifice in order to attain a certain end.

What will it be? What will you burn upon the altar of Fortune? Is it money? Is it chasing women? Is it friends? Is it playing video games?

Only you can decide. No one else.

3. Focus, focus, focus

Once you have decided on what to sacrifice….don’t take your eyes off the ball.

Focused effort will take you from where you are now to where you want to be.

Think of your attention as the rays of the sun. Scattered, they are relatively harmless. But focused through a magnifying glass, they will burn.

When you have your hands in too many pots, you never finish making a meal. Finish one dish. Them the next, then the next.

4. All in

You need to have an “all in” mentality. Once you’ve sacrifice, you need the courage to “hang in there” until you’re successful. You can’t quit when the going gets tough and things look bad. You can switch, which is different – but don’t quit.

“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever. – Lance Armstrong

You just need to ask yourself at the end of the day: what are your dreams worth? Are they enough that you will do what’s needed? Or will you just be another person who just talks and talks without saying anything?

If you want freedom, success, money, whatever have you…you must give up something. You must go without. No one is immune to this principle.

This…takes discipline. Discipline is the only thing that will separate the doers from the talkers. Discipline is the great refiner, the great equalizer. Discipline is what turns boys into men and ordinary people into champions.

What have you sacrificed to achieve your dreams? Let me know in the comments.