As Dalai Lama said, “Man surprised me most about humanity, because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present. The result being that he does not live in the present or the future. He lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived”
What are you willing to sacrifice to be financially successful? There are things you must sacrifice if you want to achieve significant success in life. But there are things that should never be negotiated on the altar of success and money. I’ll share seven of them with you in this video. But first, if you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to After School Africa for more insightful videos like this.
1. Never sacrifice your hunger
Never sacrifice your hunger for a more meaningful life in a place of comfort. Imagine what will become of the lion if its fierceness is taken away from it in exchange for comfort. It doesn’t need to chase gazelles and antelopes anymore. It will be served fresh bloody meat every day for free. All it has to do is sacrifice its lion-ness. This may sound like a good idea but the problem is that a tamed lion is only good for the circus or the zoo. If the lion accepts this offer, then the destined king of the jungle will soon turn around to become the victim. The world is going to try to beat you to submission; to settle and accept the ordinary life because your dream and purpose are unachievable. It will make you feel you are asking for more than you should, and make you feel less responsible for your life’s outcome. But never lose your hunger to strive and to thrive in a place of comfort and ease. Never accept pity or live a victim. And never lose your ability to dream and to fight for your dream.
2. Never Sacrifice Your Seed
Imagine you have farmland but don’t have seeds to cultivate the land. Then you decide to go work for another farmer. In exchange for your labor, the farmer pays you from his seeds. What are you going to do with the seed you’ve earned? Eat all of it or plant some of it? Most people eat their seeds without a second thought. Some go further to borrow from other people’s seeds to look successful today. If you really want to grow your wealth, never sacrifice your seed today to look rich and successful. Every money you earn from your hard work is your seed. You can plant it in your mind to develop it, or plant it where it can produce yield tomorrow.
Instant gratification is the greatest enemy of real success. It takes discipline to close your eyes to consumerism and the shiny objects out there. But such discipline is the building block of success. No matter how woke the society is trying to be, discipline is never old-fashioned. You have to discipline yourself to plant your seed and go hungry today for the possibility of abundance tomorrow.
One thing we both know about seeds is that it comes in small sizes. At first, it may not look like much. But seeds have the potential to grow into something bigger. Don’t wait until you have a lot before you start planting.
3. Never sacrifice your physical health
I lost a sister to illness. She had a highly demanding boss that doesn’t care how she felt. When she was ill, she kept going to work because her boss won’t give her a week off. She only got the chance to stay off work when her illness got worse. Well, she didn’t make it through. By the next week, the company had replaced her.
Your health is your greatest asset and greatest wealth; cliché but true. If your health is suffering because of work – because you’re using your body in a way that is unhealthy; because you’re pushing yourself to physical extremes; because you have no time to look after yourself; because something in your work environment is physically toxic – you need to fix it or get out before things go downhill. Because when you are gone, someone else will take your place.
One reason why we continue to neglect our health is that we don’t see the consequences right away. Since we don’t see an immediate consequence, we are more likely to continue indulging in unhealthy habits. You need to make a deal with yourself that no matter what happens in your life, health comes first. Just like in the airplane, you should put on the oxygen mask on yourself first, before anyone else.
4. Never sacrifice your mental health
One thing every human being universally desires is progress. We all want to see that we are better today than we were yesterday in whatever we find important in our lives. But instead of focusing our measurement of progress based on where we were yesterday, we have succumbed to pressures from modern societies. We measure our progress based on other people’s results. This unending comparison has created a vicious circle of mindless pursuit and expectations at the expense of our mental health.
We all need to make progress. It’s a human need; but how you measure your progress matters a lot for your mental health. And no matter how much money you amass in your bank account, you will be miserable if you don’t take care of your mental health. This is why the journey towards success is more important than the destination of success. Nothing in the world is worth sacrificing your peace of mind and sanity.
Some people mistakenly believe that peace of mind is experienced when your life is trouble-free. But there is really nothing like a trouble-free life. As one author puts it, “Life is not about waiting for the storm to calm; it’s about learning to dance in the rain”. In the midst of the chaos, distractions, and competition out there, maintaining your mental health is a success by itself. Never sacrifice it for anything.
5. Never sacrifice your time
People give their time away with such ease these days. But forget that time is the most precious gift we all get an equal amount of per day. Many people will not admit this; but if you are an adult, your life is a reflection of how you have spent your time. What you know, the depth of your relationships, what you have, what you believe, how you feel about yourself are all reflections of how you have spent your time so far. Every life choices come at a cost. Every time you spend day-dreaming or fantasizing over someone else’s life is time sacrificed. The time you spend flipping through luxury magazines, glamorous social media pages, and developing a false sense of self, is time you will never get back. Don’t sacrifice your time feeding on unproductive activities with the illusion that you are actually associating with success. Don’t sacrifice your time for short-term pleasure when you could be doing something more rewarding in the long run. Remember, how you spend your time is reflected in your life.
6. Never sacrifice your support network
How do you feel about that persistent friend always trying to sell you one scheme or product from a network marketing company that they don’t even believe in? When you value money over your relationships and support network, you risk losing the people that would have your back when you need someone. There is nothing wrong with trying to sell something to your friends. But making that money should not be more important than your relationship.
Many young people don’t realize this: quality relationship takes work. You have to spend time with people to build memories together. It takes patience and care to understand someone else, and to be understood. Ultimately, feeling connected to people in this way is the only thing that will console us in the face of our inevitable death.
7. Never sacrifice your integrity
100 percent commitment is easier than 98 percent. As Clayton Christensen puts it, “It’s easier to hold your principles 100 percent of the time than to hold it 98 percent of the time” This is the 100 percent rule. The reason is that each time we compromise on our principle or commitment a little bit, it becomes harder to uphold, or as Jordan Peterson puts it, “we lose a part of our self-esteem”. In one of his lectures, Jordan Peterson talked about the German Nazis and why the students seated in the room had the tendency to be as brutal as the Nazi soldiers. The Nazis were just as human as anyone else. It takes one little compromise of principle after another. And soon you find yourself doing things you never imagined you could do.
At some point over the course of your life, you’re going to look in the mirror and judge the person you’ve become. We can pretend to society that we are doing great, but our conscience will always be there to have an honest conversation with us. Never sacrifice your integrity.
I hope you found this helpful. If you are yet to subscribe to After School Africa, now is a good time to hit the subscribe button. Until next time, YOUR SUCCESS MATTERS!
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