It seems that many people ask, ask, ask to avoid, avoid, avoid. Avoid what? Avoid the work of finding the answer to the question they are asking. Ask for clarity. Ask for information. Fine. But don't ask for avoidance. Perhaps they really don’t care about the question or the answer. Perhaps they are simply lazy. Oftentimes, they seem to want a ready-made solution that is customized exactly to their needs. Are they unwilling to create the result they want? How bad do they really want it – whatever “it” may be?
In my high school basketball days, we had practice jerseys that were one color if worn one way and another color if turned inside out. There wasn’t actually an “inside out” as the jerseys were designed to have both sides look like the outside of the jersey. So one team in a scrimmage could be, say, blue. And the other team could be, say, gold. But what I remember most about the jerseys is that they had two words printed on them: Sacrifice and Desire. Sacrifice was on one side and Desire on the other side. In other words, if you on the blue team your jersey said Sacrifice and if you were on the gold team your jersey said Desire. You just couldn’t get away from either word.
But as trite or corny as that all sounds, I bought into it hook, line and sinker. And I still do today.
I don’t think the lazy questioners are practicing either of those values. When they ask for that “something” what I am hearing is “We want to reap the benefits of your hard work; we don’t want to make the sacrifice ourselves.” Or “We don’t have the desire to create the solution we need – do it for us.”
I think of the two words as value statements.
Sacrifice, to me, means being willing and able to give up things in the short-term to be able to realize greater things in the long-term. It could be as simple a thing as giving up tonight’s bowl of ice cream (tough to do) to realize a desired weight loss tomorrow. Or it could be much more complex – sacrificing short-term social or athletic activities to realize the longer-term gain of that degree you find yourself seeking by spending countless hours in a classroom or library. In some cases, it may be foregoing traditional career goals by focusing on your entrepreneurial dream.
Desire, to me, means wanting something so fervently that you are willing to do those things required by desire’s partner value – sacrifice. It is not simply about wanting something – everybody wants something. It is about wanting it so deeply, so badly, that it translates into immediate and sustained behavioral changes. So, you see, to my way of thinking, sacrifice and desire go absolutely hand-in-hand.
When applied to life’s goals, to career ambitions or to entrepreneurial endeavors, it is a combination that is hard to beat. So, when I get those inevitable questions from people that evidently don’t want to put in the work required to get to an answer, I just ask myself if they have the desire and will make the sacrifices needed to achieve what they claim to want to achieve. Or if they are simply lazy.
News flash! After talking to one of my teammates from those days who remains a dear friend to this day (thanks Mike!), I was reminded that a third word was added to the practice jerseys the following season. “Sacrifice - Hustle - Desire.” Think about that!
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