What are you willing to sacrifice for the things you want?

It takes a lot of effort and sacrifice to reach the next level of success.

A lot of us take it easy on ourselves. We say, “I did enough for today.” When really, we just did the bare minimum.

If you set ambitious goals, you’re going to have to work a lot harder than you currently are. So the question becomes, are you OK with good enough? Or do you want spectacular? Do you want extraordinary?

If you’re reading this, that means you have access to the Internet. Maybe you’re reading it from a smart phone, a laptop, or a tablet. But relatively speaking, you’ve “made it.” You’re better off than so many other people in the world already in terms of finances. You likely live in a first world country. You likely don’t have any major concerns regarding food, water, or shelter. Life for you as it currently is should be considered “good enough.”

But do you want more, and if so, what are you willing to do for it? So many people want something. They desire it, but only if it falls into their lap. They want it to happen, but they aren’t willing to do what it takes to get what they want.

Only you can decide how badly you want something. If you want it bad enough, you can make it happen. You can set time aside to work towards it. Sometimes that will mean waking up early or staying up late, sometimes that will mean refraining from buying something, sometimes that will mean reading instead of watching tv, but almost always, there will be a sacrifice that needs to be made if you don’t want to coast through life for “good enough.” Now it’s just a matter of reminding yourself how important your goal is and determining if the sacrifice is still worth it.

Comfort or growth? Those are our choices

We usually have two options.

1) Stay comfortable/safe by doing what we know, even when we recognize that we are capable of doing so much more.

2) Grow by trying new/challenging things. We might stumble along the way, but there will be no growth by staying within our comfort zone.

If you’re not making a conscious decision to grow/improve everyday, you’re subconsciously choosing stagnation. There’s nothing wrong with that if you’re ok with it, but if you truly want growth, you’ll have to work for it and get comfortable being uncomfortable.

Be consistent and enjoy the process

If you learn to enjoy the process, the rest will fall into place. You’re more likely to end up with the result your desire and learn to be happier (both during the process and with the end result).

For example, instead of just saying, “I want to lose 25 pounds,” try to figure out what process you need to follow to do this. Do you need to cut out sugar and processed foods, work out for 30 minutes or more five days per week, drink more water, get better sleep, etc.? If you can learn to love doing those things, you can easily achieve the result you desire. And then when you get to your goal, you’ll also be much more likely to keep those healthy habits because you actually enjoy doing them! No more of this “yo-yo” dieting. No more working out really hard for 3 months and then not working out at all for the next 6 months.

You have to be consistent to achieve results. And the more you enjoy the boring, consistent process, the better results you’ll see.

Setting stretch goals

“We aim above the mark to hit the mark.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Set lofty, stretch goals that are challenging and make you question how you’re going to actually achieve them.

If you ask big questions, you’re forced to come up with big answers.

You don’t have to know every step to get there. But figure out the big steps you think it will take and start with the first step. Figure it out as you go – following the rough outline you laid out and letting your experience and mentors guide you along the way.

Even if you don’t hit your lofty goal, you should have still succeeded in other areas along the way. Swing for the fences and you might still hit a double. But the key is to strive for improvement, don’t strive for perfection. Keep a positive attitude and enjoy the journey.

On selling

Confidence is key to selling. If you lack confidence and are meek, it doesn’t matter if you have the best product and it’s at a great price. If you leave any doubt or confusion in the buyer’s mind, you’ll lose them to more confident competitors.

When you lack confidence in your own product, people will find reasons (real or made up) as to why it’s not a good purchase.

Know your product inside and out. Know the competition’s product. Understand the market in general. Be positive, talk clearly and concisely, and be energetic (but not annoyingly so). Dress according to what is expected of the product you’re selling and the people you’re selling to. When in doubt, slightly overdress as opposed to being underdressed for the occasion.