Sacrifice and Success

[vinceconaway]

Success can be summed up in two factors: work hard and be lucky. Other authors have done a far better job with this topic, most notably Malcolm Gladwell in Outliers, but I'd like to consider a third dimension.

In business it's called opportunity cost, that by seizing one opportunity another is lost. Being of a spiritual bent I prefer to think of it as sacrificing the road not taken. Every hour I've spent practicing is an hour I wasn't watching tv, studying brain surgery, or directly earning a paycheck.

Some sacrifices are bigger than others. Having decided not to have children isn't much of a burden since I don't feel called to fatherhood. My divorce was huge because I not only sacrificed the heart of my ex-wife but a certain image I had of myself as a nice person.*

This is part of the reason I retain great respect for people who tried and decided against a career in the arts, who saw the price tag and turned away. Ultimately, there is no such thing as "too expensive", only "worth it" or not.

*I'm honoured if you disagree, but the nicest thing I can do is be forthright about my priorities.

Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.

Comments

[dicea.livejournal.com]

Thank you, this was exactly what I needed to read this morning.

[vconaway.livejournal.com]

I'm very glad, I've been thinking about it for ages before finally writing it.

[eliskimo.livejournal.com]

I don't mean to be inappropriately personal, but it's been in mind since I read this post this morning. I've never asked you about your divorce. I always assumed it was either an "irreconcible differences" thing or a "we've grown too far apart" thing. However, it sounds here like you are saying you deliberately and conciously chose your music over your marriage. Is that true? I just want to make sure that I am reading what you intended to convey.

[vconaway.livejournal.com]

It was a significant factor, yes. I very deliberately chose my career over my marriage, which did have its problems (many of them also my fault) but may have been salvageable.