Be Willing to Pay the
Price of Success
AFFIRMATIONS
for
Meditation and Reflection
I am willing to pay the price to achieve my goals and dreams on my own terms.
I am doing whatever it takes to be successful and reach my goals.
I am committed to investing the time, money, and effort required to achieve my most important goals.
Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good; it’s the thing you do that makes you good.
—MALCOLM GLADWELL
Author of Outliers: The Story of Success
and other bestsellers
Behind every success story there is a tale of perseverance and dedication. In order to be great, it takes a lot of education, training, practice, discipline, and sacrifice. You have to be willing to put in the time and effort—to do what it takes to succeed. That often means a steady diet of trial and error and constant practice—generally in more than one area. But it’s the willingness to do what’s necessary that adds that extra dimension and pushes you past setbacks, challenges, roadblocks, and even emotional and physical pain. I love this quote from the great Bear Bryant (still college football’s winningest coach): “It’s not the will to win that matters—everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.”
Preparing to win means doing whatever it takes—getting to work early, taking extra courses, practicing the piano one more hour every day. That’s what makes the difference between elite performers and people who are just good at something.
Persevere and you will stand out from the rest.
I am willing to pay the price to achieve my goals and dreams on my own terms.
Even though today’s multitalented, multimillionaire Oprah Winfrey struggled when she was a little girl, she was determined. She believed in herself and honed her skills. Today she’s one of the most successful women in the world.
When she was asked what her secret to success was, she said, “The big secret in life is that there is no secret. Whatever is your goal, you can get there if you are willing to work.”
Are you willing to do the work you need to do to achieve your goals and dreams? Part of paying the price is the willingness to do whatever it takes to get the job done—no excuses. When M. Scott Peck published The Road Less Traveled, he participated in thousands of radio interviews and continued to do one each day for the next 13 years, keeping the book on the New York Times bestseller list for 694 weeks. Pulitzer and Nobel prize winner Ernest Hemingway rewrote A Farewell to Arms 39 times.
What’s more, numerous studies show that practicing toward a specific goal is what helps elite performers overcome a lack of innate talent or prevail over other deficiencies. Imagine what you could achieve if you set a goal and really practiced doing the things that would help you succeed!
I am doing whatever it takes to be successful and reach my goals.
When a SpaceX rocket takes off from Cape Canaveral, it uses up a large portion of its total fuel just to overcome the gravitational pull of the Earth. Once it is free of gravity, it can pretty much glide through space for the rest of its mission. That’s the result of building momentum. It’s like that in business and careers as well; you have to do what it takes to get to the place where people see you as an expert and a person of integrity. And, as long as you maintain a high level of professionalism, you will be able to reap the benefits for a long time.
One of the key pieces of advice that I constantly give people in my training classes and lectures is find out the price you have to pay. How can you decide to pay the price when you have no idea what it costs? You may have to do some investigating—turn over some rocks, make notes, do some research, interview some people—in order to find out what is required for you to succeed (or even just take the first steps). Bear in mind that “cost” can relate to money, health, time, labor, time spent away from family, and more. Once you know what the cost will be, you can decide whether it is still right for you or if there’s something better on the horizon. Be aware, be open, and be prepared. God may have something even better in store for you!
I am committed to investing the time, money, and effort required to achieve my most important goals.