8 Steps to Sure Success: Step Eight – Sacrifice

December 16, 2014

“The most sublime act is to set another before you.” – William Blake

I recall a story that took place many years ago at a hospital in the Midwest. A little girl named “Liz” was suffering from a rare and deadly blood disease. The doctors had tried virtually everything to find a cure. Several years before Liz came down with the disease, her younger brother was stricken with the same disease and somehow survived even though his doctors had given up on his recovery and told his parents that death was imminent. After further research, her doctors realized that her only chance at recovery would be a blood transfusion from her younger brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease a few years previously. See, his blood carried the antibodies needed to combat the illness.

The doctors explained the situation to her little brother and then asked the little boy if he would be willing to provide blood for his sister. To the surprise of the doctors, he hesitated for a moment, took a deep breath, and replied, “yes, if it will save her, I will do it.” The doctors brought both of the children into the hospital room and laid them in beds adjacent to each other. As the transfusion progressed, he laid in his bed and smiled, as everyone in the room did seeing the color returning to his sister’s cheeks.

But then, her little brothers color grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and with a trembling voice said, “Will I die right away or how soon?” See, the boy had misunderstood the doctors! He thought that he would have to give all of his blood and his life to save his sister….but he went ahead with the procedure anyway. Sacrifice.

So now that I have tugged on your heart strings, feel free to grab a kleenex and then continue reading!

While on your journey to success, if you’re not willing to forfeit your dreams in order to help someone reach theirs, you have not earned the success you desire. In the story above, Liz’s little brother was willing to forfeit his life in order to help save his sisters. This is a fine example of sacrifice. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you will have to forfeit them…but the fact that you’d be willing to is sufficient in my book.

Don’t confuse being successful with reaching your goals. I’m a goal-setter. I do not trust people who have no goals – they are accidents waiting to happen! They are typically drifters, loafers, wannabes and are often underdeveloped in all areas except laziness. A person without a goal is a person without a dream and is probably someone who is more or less dependent on others for their basic necessities in life. I set goals that require more than what I know possible. Others refer to these as “super-sized” goals or “God-sized” goals. But whatever name you want to call them, you must have the goals that push you past the sum of your available assets and past your own strength and knowledge. Striving for something beyond your abilities stretches those abilities. “A man’s reach should exceed his grasp,” wrote one philosopher.

Goals keep you focused! Whatever vision you are pursuing, it’s bigger than that. Your success is bigger than you! And it can only be truly measured by which sacrifices you are willing to make, including sacrificing your goals in order to help another.