The Importance Of Sacrifice To Our Careers

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Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness. -Napolean Hill
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I Am Usually Up Well efore ! A.". Ho#ever$ %ue to some issues I have been dealing #ith, today I decided to
sleep a little longer than usual. According to a doctor I recently met at a conference, #hen you are stressed out the
best thing you can do for yourself is to sleep more. He said that cancer, heart problems and other things are often
caused by a lac& of sleep.
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Had I een Up 'arlier (oday, I Am )onfident I Would Not Have$ *een the bloodshed I did this morning. I could
have prevented it because I am sure the attac& probably started around the time I usually get up. I sa# her lying
there in her o#n blood, dying in front of my door. I #as fro+en #ith fear.
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I *hould Have ,no#n (his Was )oming I had heard that dog bar&ing before but someho# believed that the bar&ing
#as far a#ay. I never &ne# #hat she #as capable of. I #ish I #ould have gotten up earlier. 'duardo #as a farm
hand #e hired about si- months previously. "y #ife and I had ta&en an Alas&an )ruise and he had pic&ed us up at
the airport in my pic& up truc& #hen our flight came in very early in the morning. (he cruise had been a lot of fun
and #e #ere in good spirits #hen #e got off the plane.
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'duardo.s /ob Was 0rimarily (o (a&e )are 1f (he Goats. At the time, our little farm #as raising pygmy goats 2#hich
are goats about the si+e of a large cat3. (hese little goats #ere having the time of their lives and had a very secure
e-istence 2at least #e thought3. 1ne day my #ife and I #ere at a 0et)o and there #as an open house adoption. I
sa# a little Australian *hepherd named 4*#eetie5 that I started to play #ith. As I played #ith the dog the man from
the Humane *ociety holding the open house said, 4If you do not adopt this dog today #e are going to euthani+e her
this evening.5
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(hese Were *ome 1f (he "ost "anipulative Words I$ Had ever heard. We adopted *#eetie. *#eetie #as
e-tremely affectionate and #e really li&ed her a great deal. I #as also allergic to this dog. Additionally, the dog &ept
trying to go near the goats and herd them. It #as instinctual. We had to &eep *#eetie completely a#ay from the
goats. 4I do not &no# ho# to say this,5 'duardo said about 67 minutes into the drive bac&. 4(he dog chased all of
the goats but one out onto the free#ay and they are all dead.5
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I )ould Not elieve It I am sure the people driving do#n 0acific )oast High#ay #ho had run over miniature goats
could not believe it either. It must have been devastating for them to have run over those goats. I am not even sure
#hat these people must have thought. We live on a small farm but are in "alibu. "ost of the people driving by
probably have never been on a farm in their life. It must be an omen of sorts to run over a miniature goat in the
middle of 8os Angeles.
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We Had (o Get 9id 1f *#eetie, 1f )ourse 'duardo &ne# someone #ith a really big farm that had animals #hich
actually re:uired herding. We gave *#eetie to that farm. It #as sad to see the dog go. 1ver the ne-t fe# months I
rebuilt the farm. 1ne evening my #ife and I #ent to another 4farm5 #hich #as right in the middle of 8os Angeles, in a
residential neighborhood. A guy #as raising around 677 goats, 677 sheep, chic&ens and all sorts of other farm
animals right in his bac&yard. It #as one of the most incredible sights I had ever seen in a residential neighborhood.
I #ondered #hy the 8os Angeles Health department #as not involved. (hey should have been.
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We 0urchased *everal *heep, )hic&ens And Goats 9ecently, one of the sheep had a baby. (he #hole scene #ith
the chic&en and goats #as very bucolic. "y t#o year old daughter loved to play #ith them. I fed them alfalfa and
goat feed every morning. (he goats loved to lounge in the sun in the afternoon. 1n this particular morning my #ife
had run into our bedroom screaming. I #as still sleeping, but barely so. 4(here is a dog eating a live sheep in front
of our door;5
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I Was Horrified I ran out to the front of the house and lying there #as a sheep on its last breaths, huffing. I #as not
sure ho# the dog could possibly have gotten to the sheep and gotten onto our property, but it did. Wandering
around the property #as a giant Australian 9idgebac& dog. (he dog came up to me #agging its tail. "y t#o year old
daughter #as screaming and there #as blood every#here. (he only remaining 0ygmy goat, /ac&, #as loo&ing at
the dying lamb and trying to revive it by butting it #ith his horn. "y #ife #as in her bathrobe and grabbed the dog
and called its o#ner. *he #as crying.
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4(here Is lood 'very#here; It ,illed All 1f 1ur <arm Animals;5 (he o#ner of the dog must have been astonished.
We live in "alibu, )alifornia and despite living on a farm most of our neighbors are people in the entertainment
industry and others that have little in common #ith us. I cannot imagine #hat they must have been thin&ing. Within
moments our neighbor had pulled up in his (oyota 0rius. We #ere #rapping the dying sheep in a sheet and
carrying it to the pic& up truc&. "y #ife #as getting ready to run the sheep over to the emergency animal care center
a fe# miles a #ay.
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4I.ll 0ay <or 'verything.5 (he "an In (he 0rius *tated None of this #as about money, of course. (he situation #as
completely devastating emotionally. (he man #as #earing the latest fashion of everything. I could not imagine #hy
a =7 year man #as dressed up as a hipster at !>?7 am. 4I #as on this property before you bought it,5 he said as #e
#ere consoling #ith the dying lamb. 4I #as here #ith the model ,ate "oss. We have been friends for over ?7
years.5
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(his Was "alibu <or @ou Here #e #ere in the middle of a blood bath #ith a dying lamb, and this man #as telling me
all about ho# he #as friends #ith someone famous. I #as literally at a loss for #ords. (he situation #as almost
beyond bi+arre.
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What %oes It "ean (o Have A aby 8amb *acrificed And$ ,illed on your front door at !>77 amA We live on a
large property and of all places I cannot understand #hy this sacrifice had to have occurred right on our front door. I
have been pu++ling over this all day. What does it mean to have a lamb sacrificed and &illed on your front door early
in the morningA
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I <ound (he <ollo#ing %efinition 1f A *acrificial 8amb A sacrificial lamb is a lamb 2or metaphorical parallel3 &illed or
discounted in some #ay 2as in a sacrifice3 in order to further some other cause. In typical modern usage, it is a
metaphorical reference for a person #ho has no chance of surviving the challenge ahead, but is placed there for the
common good. (he term is derived from the traditions of Abrahamic religion #here a lamb is a highly valued
possession, but is offered to God as a sacrifice to obtain the more highly valued favor of God.
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*acrifice (ypically "eans (o Give *omething Up 1f Balue (o$ Get something even more valuable in the future.
*acrifice al#ays implies giving something up or doing something, or some sort of #or&, that is distasteful. (he
people in the #orld #ho achieve the most are the ones #ho are able to sacrifice. <or e-ample, (iger Woods
practices golf si- hours a day and has since he #as very young. Anyone #ho achieves something great is able to
sacrifice.
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(he )oncept 1f 4*acrifice5 Is *omething (hat Is$ Ama+ingly important to our lives. We need to constantly be
sacrificing in order to insure that #e are advancing in our lives. While I am not sure #hy a baby lamb #as sacrificed
on my front door this morning by a 9hodesian 9idgebac& dog, the one thing I do &no# is that it is only through
incredible sacrifice that our lives can change. (his sacrifice has reminded me of the incredible sacrifice #e need to
do in order to live the lives #e #ant to live.
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(here Are 8ots 1f <orms 1f *acrifice 1ut (here "other (heresa is someone #ho sacrificed by caring for the dying,
the sic&, the poor, the hungry and others. *he too& people that society had abandoned and cared for them #ith
compassion. *he stated of sacrifice> A sacrifice, to be real, must cost, must hurt, must empty ourselves. (he fruit of
silence is prayer, the fruit of prayer is faith, the fruit of faith is love, the fruit of love is service, the fruit of service is
peace.
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*ometimes @ou (oo Need (o *acrifice In 1rder (o Get Ahead *ometimes you need to move a#ay from the familiar
and #hat you e-pect in order to get the results that you are see&ing in your life. 9ecently, I had an e-perience #ith
an employee #ho :uit our company after #or&ing #ith us for several years. (his person had consistently been
#or&ing incredible amounts of overtime and this had ended up costing our company often double #hat the person.s
salary #as. (he person had formerly been in charge of a printing operation for our company and about a year and a
half ago #e shut do#n the printing operation.
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%ue (o (his 0erson.s 8ongevity With (he )ompany$ And presumed loyalty, I made the decision to &eep them on
and find other things for them to do. (he other #or& this person #as given #as not demanding and involved simple
things li&e filing and running errands. Nevertheless, this person continued to #or& incredible amounts of overtime,
despite being #arned on several occasions not to do so.
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(here Was A (ime When (his 0erson Was Needed (o$ Wor& overtime #hen our printing operation #as going a
full bore. Nevertheless, this #as no longer necessary and had not been for years. While I am not sure if I #ould call
it a 4sacrifice5, #hat #e no# #ere as&ing this person to do #as to #or& a normal schedule in an effort to save his Cob.
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After "onths 1f Warning (his 0erson About Wor&ing 1vertime$ We decided that the only solution #as to put them
on salary because, try as #e might, the person #ould not stop #or&ing overtime. We calculated his hourly #age and
one of our managers sat him do#n and told him #e #ere putting him on salary going for#ard. 9ight on the spot, the
person :uit. A fe# hours later I received an email from the person telling me I #as a horrible person and that I had
stepped all over him by trying to limit his overtime. (he person #ent so far as to say he felt sorry for my daughter
because he thought I #as a horrible person.
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(his Is An '-ample 1f *omeone Who Was As&ed (o$ "a&e a sacrifice 2not #or& overtime3 and could not do it.
(he person is no# unemployed and trying to get unemployment despite having :uit his Cob. A simple sacrifice for
this person #as too much to ma&e.
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In @our /ob And In @our )areer @ou Are Going (o$ e called upon to ma&e sacrifices. It is e-ceedingly important
that you ma&e sacrifices. All of my life I have been fascinated #ith success and #hat ma&es certain people more
successful than others. As I have studied the most successful men and #omen out there, I have seen that they
have all made tremendous sacrifices in order to succeed. In order to do anything and be someone of great
substance you need to learn ho# to sacrifice.
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1ne 1f (he Greatest )auses 1f <ailure In 8ife Is$ (he inability to ma&e sacrifices. <or e-ample, many people
spend every cent of money they ma&e, go into debt, and never save money. (he failure to save money results in
them never being able to afford the sorts of material obCects they #ould li&e. *aving money is a sacrifice.
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When )hildren Are Gro#ing Up (hey 8earn 'arly 1n (hat$ If they #ant to get good grades in school they are
going to have to not play video games or be out playing, and instead are going to have to sacrifice 4fun time5 for
4serious time5 and do their school #or&. Not#ithstanding, many children simply fail to ma&e this sacrifice and never
learn ho# to do so. (he children #ho do ma&e the sacrifice and study may end up becoming doctors or la#yers, for
e-ample. (he ones #ho never ma&e this sacrifice, despite average or even e-cellent intelligence, may spend their
lives moving from Cob to Cob in fast food restaurants, or do other things that are largely insignificant in terms of the
impact they could end up having.
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In 1ur )areers And 8ives, (he "ost Important (hing$ (hat #e can do is constantly and consistently sacrifice so
that #e can achieve greater re#ards. We must al#ays be sacrificing in order to gro#. We often also need to
sacrifice to help other people. A D77E article in the Ne# @or& (imes discusses the importance of sacrificing for
another> "atthe# erenguer.s parents sacrificed all they o#ned so he could get the one thing he could &eep forever>
an education. When his father lost his Cob, they lost their apartment. (he family put everything in storage, and all
seven of them lived in homeless shelters. If that #as not hard enough, his parents had to decide ho# to spend #hat
little money they had left> continue paying storage fees for their belongings or send "atthe# to a summer program at
*yracuse University.
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His 0arents )hose His <uture 1ver (heirs. (he storage company auctioned their belongings. (heir beds and sofaA
Gone. (heir pianoA Gone. His s&etchboo&s, #hich he filled #ith vivid pencil s&etches during sub#ay ridesA Gone.
His father.s library, #hich gave "atthe# delicious moments of escape and educationA Gone. 1ther families no#
have the bits and pieces of his life. ut "atthe#, #ho got his first taste of college life that summer, insists he got
something far more precious. 5I #as grateful #e lost everything,5 said "atthe#, a senior at 9ice High *chool in
"anhattan, #ho hopes to attend )ornell University. 5I #as very materialistic. (his changed #hat my values #ere. I
found out I still had my mother, my father, my family.5
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His 0arents. *acrifices )ontinue (o 0ay 1ff "atthe# is among this year.s #inners of a Ne# @or& (imes )ollege
*cholarship, #hich #ill provide him #ith a F?7,777 four-year scholarship, a summer Cob and a mentor. He and 6G
other young people H some from countries around the #orld and others #ho never #ould have ventured much
beyond the bloc& H possess that #ondrous mi- of talent, determination and optimism that enabled them not only to
overcome considerable obstacles, but also to thrive. (he po#er of sacrifice is something that can change lives and
has huge meaning.
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I ,no# (here Is "eaning In$ (he dead lamb &illed on my front door. (he situation is too coincidental and incredible
for it to be other#ise. In thin&ing about this in a state of shoc& for the past fe# hours, I came upon a definition of the
#ord 4sacrifice5 from 8atin. In 8atin the derivative of the #ord 4sacrifice5 is 4sacred office5. 4*acred office5 means to
hold one.s #or& or mission sacred and close to one.s heart. Anything sacred re:uires that #e hold it in deep
reverence and respect. What is sacred is holy and divine.
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(he "essage I Want (o ring (o @ou And$ (he message this brought to me is the importance of holding my #or&
as holy and divine and others also holding their #or& as holy and divine. Whether this #as a message from God, I
do not &no#. What I do &no# is that it has made me believe in the importance of our #or& and doing everything
#ithin my po#er to hold my #or& as the most important and sacred thing in the #orld. I have dedicated my career
and life to getting people Cobs, and a lamb sacrificed on my front door step and a search for meaning in this has
helped me reali+e the importance I place on my Cob.
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8oo& At @our /ob <rom @our 'mployer.s 0oint of Bie# (he final message has nothing #hatsoever to do #ith me.
(he final message is all about you. @ou need to hold your #or& as sacred and divine. A Cob is sacred. (he #or&
you do is sacred. @ou need to ta&e your Cob seriously and you need to ta&e your career seriously. (he more you put
into it, the more you #ill become. (he more you appreciate something, the better you #ill get at it. @ou need to
remind yourself of this every single day, because it is about the most important factor in #ho you #ill become.