sacrifice for success

When I finished college in 2006 myself and fellow Fit Team Originator Jazmane Jenkins would always discuss how we were going to be successful.

We would always talk about how we were going to maximize ourselves in our careers and in our lives.

One phrase he always repeated to me was “E, we are going to have to give up in order to go up.”

This statement is powerful and profound but most importantly this statement is true.

In order to get something you have to be willing to give something up.  In order to have success in the future, you have to make a sacrifice today.

Some folks are shooting themselves in the foot because they are not willing to make the necessary sacrifices in order to get to the next level.

There are two principles that explain the importance of making a sacrifice for future success.  They are:

1) Sacrifice Who You Are Today To Become Who You Want To Be Tomorrow

This is deep.

Let’s say you are completely out of shape.

Let’s say you are carrying around a substantial amount of body fat, not training with any consistency, not eat the correct foods.

And let’s say you have the mental toughness of extra soft toilet tissue and your sleep habits are similar to a party-hopping, 20-year-old college punk.

But in your mind you have a vision of whom you want to become.

You want to become leaner, stronger, and more muscular.

You want to develop serious mental toughness and unleash your inner greatness.

There is only one way for you to reach the goals you have set out for yourself.  You have to absolutely destroy the current version of yourself to become what you want to become.

I had to sacrifice the older version of myself as a trainer in order for me to have real success as a performance coach.

Then I had to sacrifice normal sleep in order to consistently write articles, film/edit videos, and build my online business.

I had to sacrifice spending money on things that I wanted in order to save money, build my credit, and to buy useful things for my business like new training tools.

I had to sacrifice the comfort of getting a check every 2 weeks and working for someone else in order to be my own boss.  This allowed me to have a much larger impact in my industry.

This process is very similar to a caterpillar transforming into a beautiful butterfly.

The caterpillar has to sacrifice who it was for what it wants to become.  It is not easy, but you have to give up in order to go up.

First, you have to give up making excuses.  Then you have to give up the bad dietary habits.

After that, you have to give up being inconsistent with your workouts.

And above all, you have to give up feeling sorry for yourself.

As hard as it may be, you may even have to give up old friends and leave that soul-draining job.

If the people you hang around with are poisonous or energy vampires, then you cannot be around them.

If your job is a toxic environment you need to consider doing something else immediately.  Following your passion is a great place to start.

You must accept that to sacrifice who you are right now in order to have success in the future will not be easy.

You will have to get comfortable being uncomfortable.

But if you are committed to unleashing your inner greatness and becoming a better you, the temporary pain will not stop you.

2) Be Committed To The Process

The process of becoming a better you requires time and consistent effort.

When you sacrifice who you are for whom you want to become, it can be very difficult.

Old habits that you have had for 5, 10, or even 20 years will not go away overnight.

Your views and opinions on different subjects will also not instantly change, as it will take time to unlearn.

There were times earlier in my own process where I was stuck in a certain mindset.

If I had not stayed committed to the process, and not been open to change, I would be in the same place that I was in 2010: going nowhere fast.

When I began my business that same year, I had no idea what I was doing.

For the first 4 years, there was no consistent income coming through my business account.  Fitman Performance Training, LLC was in name only!

I did not know anything about marketing or how to attain clients.

At the time I thought if I remained the same person then I could be successful through the sheer force of will.  I was wrong.

Even the people who have true mental toughness can begin to question whether or not they can succeed when times get tough.

You can begin to question if you have the stones to stay committed to the process.

It is important to fight through the difficult times. Pain is the mother of change...
It is important to fight through the tough times because pain is the mother of change.

I am glad I stayed committed through the difficult times.

I would not want to see what I would have become had I ran away from my passion, which is showing folks how to live the fit life.

If you want to improve your physique, build your business, or develop a meaningful relationship, you must stay committed to the process.

I don’t care how hard it gets when no one is talking about your business.

I’ve been there.  You feel lousy when nobody cares about what you are doing, but this is not the time to sulk.

This is the time to develop and execute your plan of action so that everyone will be talking about what you do in the future.

I don’t care how hard that last set of barbell walking lunges was.

I’ve been there.  Hard training can be absolutely brutal, but if building your dream body is what you are chasing then you have to accept certain realities of developing it.

Working hard for what you want is the only way to get there.

I don’t care how much your significant other pissed you off that day.

I’ve been there and look, some relationships are just not meant to work.  Everyone you date will not like you, and you will not have chemistry with everyone.

That is the truth.  But if you are committed to the one you love then you have to accept that with those sunny days comes some rain.

If you are committed to the process, then you will weather the storm.

Conclusion

Every day is a new day to get closer to your goals.

In order to go up and reach your maximum potential, you have to give up the things that are holding you back and keeping you down.  It is much easier to dunk a basketball without a weighted vest on.

You have to make a sacrifice today so that you can have the success you want in the future.

I’ll holla at you next time.
The People’s Trainer,
Fitman

Previous Post
Best Supplements To Take For Success
Next Post
How To Start Building Muscle
0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Get Your Copy Today!

Subscribe

Join The Fit Team for the truth about objective, athletic performance training.  Download your free copy of “The Top Ten Benefits Of Lifting Weights” after you sign up.  I’d be honored to have your support for my newsletter.

the top 10 benefits of lifting weights