Nothing worthwhile comes without giving something up; so what are you willing to sacrifice? Your time? Your money? Your work-life balance?
I saw something on Facebook this past weekend that warrants repeating. The article was about life goals and suggested that instead of asking, "What do I want?" perhaps there is another question you should be asking yourself and that is, "What are you willing to give up?"
Instead of asking, "What do I want?" perhaps there is another question you should be asking yourself and that is, "What are you willing to give up?"
The premise of this statement is that all achievements require some sort of sacrifice. For instance, in order to lose weight, you need to change your eating habits and work out. Are you willing to give up the pizza and binge TV watching to look amazing in that swimsuit? If you want your children to read more, are you willing to give up time you would have been doing something else (laundry, work, exercise) to sit and read to them? If you give up the laundry, work or exercise to read more to your child, what happens then? Most of us would say, "Family comes first," as they should, but does it really benefit your family if you don't go to work and get fired because you chose to read with your child versus work?
We all have full days, so in order for us add anything, something must be taken away. There is a great entrepreneurial saying, "Sleep, Work, Family, Fitness or Friends - Pick 3." I have chosen sleep, work and family. This has had its repercussions for sure.
My ex-husband used to say that I made it look easy. I get it, people see a woman who works from home, goes on lots of vacations, drives a fancy car and appears to be successful. They didn't see me crying at one in the morning because I've been working since 6:45 am and can't see any end in sight to the work that needs to get done. They weren’t up last night worrying about making sure my employees get paid because an account is months behind.
Yes, there are things I can do that people with a 9-5 job can’t, but I had a 9-5 job – for many years. I put in my time and worked harder than anyone I know. I took risks many people aren’t willing to take and those risks didn’t go well at first. I gave up time with my children, went without vacations, ate ramen noodles for weeks and passed on many social events to get to the place where I have a modicum of autonomy. I sacrificed and continue to sacrifice so that I can have the things I have. So what are you willing to give up to get to your goals?
I’ve worked with many people who feel entitled. There was an employee once who said to me, after I asked why they weren’t prepared for a meeting, rebutted with “If you knew it needed to get done, why did you let me leave early on Friday?” Yes, that’s right. An employee who was tasked with finishing an agenda for a meeting and didn’t have it done 30 min before the meeting asked ME why I left early on Friday. I’m not sure what the definition of early was for this employee, since I had been working since 6:30 am and left the office at 7:30 at night, but regardless, that person no longer works with us.