Life has many intersections, opportunities to go up or down. At those points, we make choices. We can add something to our life, subtract it or exchange one thing for another. The most successful people know when to do which of those three — when to trade off their dead- end career to take the risk of starting a new business; when to exchange the relationships that are holding them back for those that will encourage and strengthen them; when to add a positive new habit at the expense of an old one that wasn’t producing results.
In general, I believe that unsuccessful people make bad trade-offs, average people make few trade-offs and successful people make good trade-offs.
It is important to remember that we don’t always get what we want, but we always get what we choose.
I’ve made dozens of significant trade-offs in my life, and I’ve come to realize that I have to be willing to continue making them if I want to keep growing and striving to reach my potential. When I stop making them, I will arrive at a dead end in life, and at that point, my growth will be done. That will be the day that my best years are no longer ahead of me, and my potential is behind me.
It is important to remember that we don’t always get what we want, but we always get what we choose. What kind of choices have you been making so far in life? Have you developed guidelines to help you decide what to strive for and what to give up in return? Allow me to give you five trade-offs that I have thought through, which may help establish your own guidelines.
1. I am willing to give up financial security today for potential tomorrow.
Physician and writer George W. Crane said “There is no future in any
job. The future lies in the man who holds the job.” I have always
believed that to be true, and as a result, I have always been willing to
bet on myself, so much so that I often accepted financial risks or pay
cuts to pursue what I believed was a good opportunity.
2. I am willing to give up immediate gratification for personal growth.
When it comes to growth and success, immediate gratification is almost
always the enemy of growth. We can choose to please ourselves and
plateau, or we can delay our gratification and grow. It’s our choice.
3. I am willing to give up the fast life for the good life.
We live in a culture that idolizes movie and music stars, drools over
opulent mansions, idealizes travel, and plays the lottery in hopes of
someday getting the chance to live the fast life it so admires and
emulates. But most of that is an illusion. That’s why I choose to forgo
the fast life in favor of the good life. What’s that? Missionary Albert
Schweitzer said “The great secret of success is to go through life as a
man who never gets used up.” To keep myself from getting “used up,” I
try to create greater capacity in myself and therefore margin time in my
life.
4. I am willing to give up security for significance.
You’ll never get anywhere interesting by always doing the safe thing.
Most people are capable of making a living. That’s the safe thing. The
significant thing is making a difference. The great men and women of
history were not great because of what they earned and owned, but rather
for what they gave their lives to accomplish. Every trade-off is a
challenge to become what we really are. Done correctly, we can create
opportunities to help others become who they really are.
5. I am willing to give up addition for multiplication.
My attitude in the beginning of my career was What can I do for others?
But that is addition. Once I began to learn leadership, my question
changed to What can I do with others? That’s multiplication. I want to
encourage you to explore developing your leadership potential. Your
investment in others will have a multiplying effect, and you won’t
regret the time you give.
Most people try to take too many things with them as they journey through life. They want to keep adding without giving anything up. It doesn’t work. You can’t do everything; there is only so much time in a day. At some point, you reach your limit. Besides, we need to remember that if nothing changes, nothing changes!
If you want to reach your potential, be willing to choose wise trade-offs.
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