“If you’re going to be a champion, you must be willing to pay a greater price than your opponent.” Bud Wilkinson, University of Oklahoma Football Coach
The first question to ask yourself when goal setting is: What do I really want? The answer produces a list of things. Some are tame and some are farfetched. Many millionaires and athletes today were once told their dreams were too lofty to attain. What people don’t see are the struggles behind the scenes that people who have achieved a lot have faced.
What sacrifices are you prepared to make to achieve your goals?
The way to answer that question involves mapping out a plan for the goal you have written down. It’s important to write it down or it will just disappear into nothing. The dream may never be fulfilled.
Mapping your goals means writing down the steps it will take from inception to completion.
If the goal requires money, one step will be finding capital. Depending on your current options, this may not be an easy step. If a step of the goal is laying out a large amount of cash, that could mean going without certain extras until the goal is achieved. This is an investment.
“The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don’t define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them.” Dennis Waitley, author of The Psychology of Winning
Recently, I spoke at a high school presentation evening about what sacrifices are needed in order to achieve your dream. I spoke about my own personal journey.
18 months ago I left my position as breakfast presenter at my local radio station. The programme was the most successful the station had ever experienced from listening figures to industry awards. The reason for leaving such a great place to work was simple. My dream was never to be ‘just’ a radio presenter. My dream was to be a presenter on BBC Radio 1. There is a major difference.
I knew that in order to make my dream come true I would have to make major sacrifices. I walked out on a very secure job (radio is an industry which is notoriously unsecure), in the middle of a recession, without another job to go to let alone the one that I really wanted.
I then relocated to London, a place which is totally foreign to me, leaving my entire family behind.
I spent large chunks of my savings, slept on floors and various sofas and even sold my prized possession, my car. There are plenty of things I could reveal as obstacles that may have changed my course over the last 18 months but throughout all of this, my eyes were always firmly fixed on the prize.
In April 2011 I made my debut on BBC Radio 1, the greatest radio station in the world!
Don’t get me wrong, I still have plenty more to do in order to achieve the things that I dream about on a day to day basis but I can see light at the end of the tunnel.
What ever you set your goal as, make sure you REALLY want it, more than anything in the world. When you achieve it, it will make the sacrifices (investment) you made along the way worth while!
2 Responses to Sacrifices – 21/11/11
Added, I love your blog!
By adam, On November 23, 2011 at 11:43 pm
Inspirational!! Thank you! I’m currently studying for my masters and have hit a brick wall with an essay, I was wondering what I’d done in starting the course. I read this and remembered why I’m doing it..my goal. Thanks!
Ps I was gutted when you left Rock Fm, my travel to work (to Burnley!) was not the same, had to change radio stations and chose Chris Moyles on radio 1, hope to hear more of you at radio 1, well done!
By adam, On November 24, 2011 at 7:35 pm