Be Willing to Pay the Price

This next article is part of an ongoing series here at TSB Magazine called The Success Principles. The series is based on the 64 principles laid out by Jack Canfield in his course of the same name. If you're new, I always suggest starting any series from the beginning.

Principle 16: Be Willing to Pay the Price

Behind every great achievement is a story of education, training, practice, discipline, and sacrifice. You have to be willing to pay the price. -J. Canfield

As the world watched 23 year old Michael Phelps set a record with 8 Gold Medals surpassing Mark Spits’s record of seven as the most won in any single Olympics, they must have realized they were witnessing history in the making. Phelps, who now hold 14 career gold medals and seven world records in swimming was rewarded with endorsement deals that will rake him in over 100 million dollars.

But what the world seldom realizes about super achievers like Phelps is that their success is the culmination of many years of discipline and dedication with absolutely no monetary gratification.

Jim Thorpe, writing in USA Today states, The average Olympian trains for four hours a day at least 310 days a year for six years before succeeding. During these workouts their heart rates average 160 the entire time. Try running up a flight of stairs and then check your heart rate. Then image having to that for four hours!”

For Phelps practice began at the age of seven. By the age of 10 he was setting records for his age group, and by the age fifteen he was competing in the Olympics. It was 16 years after beginning to train in the sport of swimming that Phelps broke the world record and scored the endorsement deals.

How successful do you believe you would be in any given field if you trained an average of 4 hours a day with it for 16 years?

Part of paying the price is the willingness to do whatever it takes to get the job done. It comes from a declaration that you are going to get it done no matter what it takes, no matter how long it takes, no matter what comes up. You are responsible for the results you intend. No excuses- just a world-class performance or an outstanding result that can be counted on. – J. Canfield

I mentioned in the first principle of this series how I recently gave up a portion of my former company to work full time on TSB Magazine. I was able to do this because TSB has provided me with a reasonable income to live off of. When other bloggers or website owners ask me or Mike the secret of our success we always state “Be willing to work for free for as long as it takes.” Both Mike and I have put more time and energy into this online magazine for the past three years then either of us have ever dedicated to anything previously. There were many times that we questioned ourselves and wondered if there were better more productive ways to be spending our time. But since we both believed in the cause, and had a genuine love for the subject matter, we stuck through the hard times. And while we are far from our goals, we have been rewarded for our efforts.

The biggest reason I believe most people don’t ever see the success that they crave is because they quit before the seeds they planted sprout. This is true of people looking to lose weight, people looking to improve social skills, people trying to save money, or just about any other goal that requires perseverance.

Now that you have created a list of goals, make a deal with yourself that you will not quit until you achieve them. Sometimes, just showing up is half the battle.