The Missing Cornerstone of Success

1. A Hero is someone who, the moment prior to becoming one, was a reckless, irresponsible dreamer.
2. Risk None, Gain Nothing.

I wrote the above while in deep reflection, mulling over whether I was truly prepared to take on the mammoth job of successfully launching an Internet marketing company. Having survived several start-ups of this magnitude, albeit not in the cyber-world, I knew this undertaking would be one that involved much more than just plain positive thinking.

However, as part of the process, I did return to my favorite "success" books, reading through them like familiar old friends. This time though, I experienced a new "awakening," not from what I discovered in the books, but from what I found was sorely missing in them.

The majority of books and other motivational materials fail to address the piece of the proverbial puzzle that is most often the single determining factor between achieving success, or not. If this key element were included as such, the infinite collections of you-can-make-it resources wouldn't be such an easy sell. The omitted "truth" would put the reality of achieving success in the cold hard light that it should be presented in.

This required ingredient has little to do with the stuff we should think, but has everything to do with the potentially high cost of "doing."

I am referring to Sacrifice. Ask almost any successful entrepreneur what sacrifices he or she has had to make, and they will without hesitation tell you they paid a big price.

The reality of Sacrifice can include the following:

• Sustained periods of time when eighteen hour workdays are the norm, when one hardly knows what day of the week it is. Days turn into weeks and weeks, months. Entire seasons can pass with little notice. I often refer to this as The Fog.
• Pivotal moments when one wrestles with their own mind over whether their goals and their plans are after all, valid. Self-doubt can be a success killer.
• Replenishing of the deep inner-strength required to fend off the negative effects of setbacks—bitter disappointment, discouragement and quite often, disillusionment. Whether one can bounce back from the devastating effects of a major setback can alone be the determining factor in achieving success.
• Physical suffering can often accompany one on the ride to success - the stress-related effects of weight loss or gain, fatigue, even depression. Mental and physical resiliency is a rudimentary quality to achieving success.

Too often, the largest sacrifice that an achiever has to make is suffering irreparable damage to relationships in his or her life, when focus and determination is perceived as, or even becomes, obsession. The perfect balance of relationships and entrepreneurship may find a home in books and on the lecture circuit, but reality has it that true understanding and support by loved ones are rare commodities. Countless families have fallen apart because the entrepreneurial spirit was alive in a household. Communication is the key that will see relationships not only survive, but flourish on the road to success.

I explore the topic of communication in: A Slice of Balance.

I find it amusing when someone carelessly blurts out a quick and disparaging remark about a successful person. You know, the "yeah, he's got it easy," kind of envious blurb. I've been known to rebut more than once, "If you only knew!"

Thing is, they don't give even so much as a thought to the fact that it probably has taken this person bucket loads of blood, sweat, and sacrifice to achieve what they have. Unfortunately, this is a concept they will probably never get, and as a result, they will probably never achieve the kind of success they were jealously commenting on. The road to success is often a steep and rocky one.

There will be roadblocks that you must be prepared to figure out a way to navigate around. This is the stuff that true entrepreneurial heroes have to face. The ones who are willing to fight the fight, and often pay the high price.

Greener valleys lie over the horizon for all of us. But before you leave, know that Sacrifice is the Missing Cornerstone of Success.

©Rick Beneteau

www.RichardBeneteau.com