How one sacrifice a day can change your business
Startups must realize time is limited
Time is limited.
In the terminology of business, time is a scarce resource. Everyone has the same 24 hours a day. The scarcity of time is what makes it so valuable. How often have you thought “if I just had more time?“ Or are you constantly running out of time? Time is kind of funny because in some activities time flies by and it can be hours before you realize that only feel like a moment. And then there are other times where every second is an eternity and you wonder when this will be over.
Time keeps moving
Have you ever said, “where did the time go?“ I routinely say this during a workday when I am in a flow state. I put my nose to the Grindstone in the morning and I look up and instantly it’s 2 PM with many hours gone by and I wonder “Where did the time go and did I accomplish anything?” Even worse, sometimes a whole week goes by and at the end of the week I say to my wife, “Where did the time go?“ Another week and it’s another weekend. Time has gone and we lived another week. For a real shock, I get the Reminders on my social media accounts in my photo search sites that tell me about my memories of five 10 to 15 years ago. Back when I had more hair on my head and less white hair in my beard. Back when our son was small and smiley and running around jumping in water puddles. Where did the time go? And would I want any of that time back? Did I accomplish great things in those weeks days months or years? Or did I let somebody else write my story? Time is a valuable scarce resource that we spend one moment at a time on things that are valuable to us. Were all the activities I say yes to worth my time?
Saying yes to something means saying no to something else
This leads me to my next thought saying yes to something means saying no to something else. When you go to a restaurant you normally don’t order five dinners. Out of all the choices you order one dinner and hope you like it. Most people do not have 10 careers at one time they have maybe one job and maybe one side hustle. When you watch a movie you are not watching three movies at one time you are watching one movie. Saying yes to something means having to say no to something else.
When you take this into account with the scarcity of time you realize there are choices to be made when spending when choosing to spend your time on something. These choices lead to my final point of sacrifice.
You normally only order one meal, not 10
Doing great things means sacrifice
Any great accomplishment takes sacrifice. Because of the law time is limited and you can’t choose to do everything, some things will have to go. The universe has been trying to teach me this lesson for at least 20 to 30 years. It’s only when I started doing a daily journal and setting daily goals for myself along with a five-year and a 10-year vision that I began to understand sacrifice is a word I need to get comfortable with.
Probably 15 years ago maybe 20 by now I read a book by Andy Stanley. And he told a story about becoming a dad and having a demanding job. And he talked about giving up a half hobby that he loved. I think he was some sort of musician maybe guitars or sound engineering something like that I don’t remember the story also well. And at the time he said it wasn’t wrong to have that hobby but he knew it took so much of his time that he gave up something he loved to do the greater thing. At the time when I read the story, I had hobbies of computer video games and photography along with other entrenched habits of watching TV and staying up late. Those are the hobbies that are not wrong but keep me from achieving great things. I need to sacrifice at least one thing, maybe several things if I will ever achieve my 1-year, 5-year, and 10-year goals.
When I write out my goals and my daily journal and put down in black-and-white what I want to accomplish there’s always a question what are two things that I need to stop doing and what are two things that I need to start doing every day. Those questions are about sacrifice what are you going to give up so that you can accomplish the great things?
The one thing I need to sacrifice to be great is…
Sacrifice will be different for everyone. And it will be different at different stages of your life. I know without a doubt my love for staying up late has killed more productive work than anything else. The things I say yes to are not bad…It’s only 30 more minutes. It’s only one more episode. It’s only one more check on social media. And then the next day I wake up sluggish and stubble towards the day instead of attacking the day. I have already committed to sacrificing this habit and it is on my “what are you stopping list.” Feel free to check up on me from time to time. Accountability is a great thing.
This one sacrifice will change the way I achieve my goals and bring me closer to business success. I can’t say yes to everything.
What is your one thing to sacrifice?
