There is no true greatness without sacrifice. Throughout history, and even in this present time, no one has achieved anything worthwhile or built a legacy without putting in something that will cost them - that is sacrifice. If you read about the success stories of the people who have achieved greatness in their fields of endeavour, you will understand that they had to give up something in order to get something greater. Success is not gifted to people, rather you have to work it out, pay the required price, and make sacrifices. This draws out the demarcation between ordinary dreamers and the real doers, and between vain wishers and the real transformers.
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As a student for example, you may wish to have good grades and to emerge successful in your academics, but you have to understand that it will not be gifted to you, rather you have to work hard, study extensively, and earn it. Does it not surprise you that in the same class, taught by the same teacher with the same curriculum, and some will pass, while some will fail? This shows that your own personal sacrifice is what will give you the edge you need - like going an extra mile with your studies; waking up to read at night when others may be sleeping, getting other recourse materials, etc. To emerge successful, you must be ready to make the necessary sacrifices.
When you see great people or the people who have achieved success in their individual field, you will be quick to admire the glory you can see, but have you taken time to look at the story behind it? For example, when Usain Bolt won the Olympic gold medal and emerged as the world's fastest runner with a Guinness World Record award, people applauded him, they admired him, and some even wished to be like him. However not everyone took time to consider how many years he practised for it and how many miles he covered during his practices. He sacrificed a lot of things to be able to ascend unto the top of his career.
For every success you want to achieve, and for every prize you are aspiring to get, you have to understand that there are sacrifices to be made, and there are prices to be paid. In life, sacrifices remain the vital key to progress. An entrepreneur who desires to build a very thriving business will have to sacrifice their comfort, sleep, and may be willing to take certain financial risks. In most cases, and in reality, comfort and greatness do not always agree. That is, you have to sacrifice one if you must get the other. If you need greatness, then you have to sacrifice your comfort at the moment. Sacrificing the present comfort and then working dedicatedly will guarantee greatness in the long run.
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When you see athletes and their brilliant performance, you cannot but admire them. However, behind the glory, the gold medals and the honour are years of rigorous training, strict diets and deprivation of leisure. When you want to achieve what no one has been able to achieve, or you want to become outstanding, then you have to do what others have not done. You cannot do what everyone else is doing at their ordinary level and expect to have an extraordinary result. I once read about the training routine of Christiano Ronaldo during the early part of his career and I understood why he rose to the apex of football. He would arrive early and start training even before everyone else. Than after the group training, he would still remain and train personally. No wonder what he has achieved in his footballing career so far.
The people who are prepared for greatness do not run from sacrifices, they do not also complain about it, rather they have to embrace it as the required price that they have to pay. The sacrifices you make in the present do not go into wastage, rather they build up as investments for the future. This is just like letting go of small thing today in order to get something bigger tomorrow. Always have in mind that greatness does not come by wishes but by willingly giving up something for it. Sacrifice is never a loss, rather it is an investment. Just keep making it, one day, the result will be so evident that people will celebrate it.
***Thanks for reading***
Peace on y'all
