My Findings

An increasingly concerning sight is people (including myself) looking for the easy route to “success”, whatever that might be for any particular person.

After a while, it's become apparent that there is no such type of route. A route that contains the least amount of effort will often amount to an equivalently meager outcome.

Looking at most of what society considers the most successful people of our times, they all have suffered failures, heartbreak, unimaginable pain, bankruptcy, and every kind of hurdle known to man in order to eventually (and many times by mere chance) reach their goals. In the process, they've had to sacrifice parts of their existence in order to make sustainable progress.

Most people when hearing this will think that this doesn't apply to themselves. That these people simply got lucky and were born under just the right circumstances to kickstart their path and eventually land them at the right place and at the right time.

I say bullshit. One makes their own luck, and whoever says otherwise is simply looking for excuses to sit comfortably on their asses and do nothing to get to where they placidly dream to be in the future by some kind of act of wizardry.

One final note: Remember, greatness or success does not only mean a good socioeconomic position. It can be whatever greatness or progress is to any given individual.

It could be a single parent working two jobs to afford a better life for their kids, or someone trying to work on their shortcomings as a human being. It could also be someone trying to achieve something no one has done before, or maybe someone simply learning a new skill.

What all of these people have in common is that they will have to make sacrifices to accomplish what they set out to do. The first and most valuable sacrifice they'll need to make is their time. And this means any person or activity that originally might've had that time slotted will suffer.

Therefore, make your sacrifices count by being consistent and pushing through to the very end.