We Have to Sacrifice to Achieve What We Want

There is a cost for almost everything in life.

Photo by Vitalii Khodzinskyi on Unsplash

As a former college and high school teacher, I observed that several students who got average grades were not average students.

They were very smart and intelligent. I know this because I saw how they reasoned and analyzed problems.

In fact, some students who are the “smartest” had very low grades. There is not always a correlation between a student’s ability and their grades but that’s for another article.

So, what made the difference?

Well, one of the major differences between students is how they spend their time. Especially time outside of school.

There are some who spend quite a lot of their time studying, preparing, and gaining additional information from other sources. Let us call them Group A.

Some spend very little time on their schoolwork. They spend most of their time on other activities. Let’s call them Group B.

Based on how both groups are using their time, their output in school cannot be the same if we assume that students learn at the same rate.

Group A is getting better at their schoolwork and Group B is getting better at what they are choosing to spend most of their time on.

I’m not saying that one group is superior to the other. I’m saying that if the desire is to get good grades, then one group has a better chance of achieving it based on how they are spending their time.

There is no free lunch. Because time is limited, for the students to get a desired outcome, something must be given up or sacrificed to some extent.

There are three possibilities facing each student. They could:

spend most of their time on schoolwork and give up spending time on other activities.
spend most of their time on other activities and give up spending quality time on their schoolwork.
give up time from both their schoolwork and other activities in order to find a balance between the two.

There is a cost for almost everything

In life, we must give up on some things to achieve what we want.

There is a cost for everything. It’s just that we don’t think about it and even if we do, we don’t consider it a cost.

However, the real cost of what we achieve is what we had to sacrifice in order to achieve it.

As I am writing this article, I am giving up on my time to sleep. The sleep which I gave up is the cost of getting this article done.

“The reason many people fail is not for lack of vision but for lack of resolve and resolve is born out of counting the cost.”— Robert H. Goddard

Making sacrifices has benefits

Like the students, we make sacrifices every single day. We have to decide what we will give up as we spend our limited time and money.

These decisions are not always easy to make. Sometimes we have to weigh the pros and cons of different options and decide what is more important to us.

But making sacrifices is also necessary because it helps us grow and learn.

Sacrifices teach us how to prioritize our values and goals. They challenge us to be creative and resourceful. They make us appreciate the things that we worked hard for or sacrificed for. They remind us that nothing is free in this world and that everything has a cost.

Every sacrifice you make reveals who you are and what you value. Think about that!

Making sacrifices can have a dark side

At this point, I must be mindful and point out that we have to be extremely careful with making sacrifices.

When we continuously sacrifice one area of our lives for another, we risk burnout, strained relationships, and a sense of unfulfillment.

We want to make sacrifices but not in a way that will harm or hurt us.

For example, it might be okay for me to lose sleep to write an article occasionally. But to consistently do so is harmful to me, unproductive, and not in line with my values.

There must be balance.

Desire and costs should go together

The next time you say you want or desire something, consider the cost of getting it.

Take into account what must be given up for you to get what you want.

Because, for everything you choose to do or get, you are simultaneously choosing not to do or get something else.

So, what will you be willing to sacrifice to get what you want? What will be the cost to you?

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