I've read many self-help books written by "gurus" who tell me I can do what I love and the money will follow, or follow my passion and my dream will mysteriously come true. To some extent, that is true. However, the "gurus" often fail to mention something that EVERY entrepreneur faces, at one point or another, and must be mentioned to have a complete picture of what it takes to live a dream: SACRIFICE.

Whether an entrepreneur, an artist, or someone simply seeking to give back, there is always sacrifice present when following life purpose.

You didn't want to hear that, did you? Me neither. But the truth is that if we want to do something new, we must give up something old. If we buy new clothes, we must send some old ones away. This stems from the laws of attraction and life balance. And since living life on purpose is partly about manifesting, it is important to know that manifesting requires sacrifice. 

Yes, we must have our intention. We must have no doubt; or, better, absolute faith. We must not listen to the critics except possibly when the critics are spot-on the money with their advice. But what we must also know is what we will need to give up in order to live out our dreams and live life ON PURPOSE.

I have had to give up many things to live my life on purpose. For example, in my previous career, I was used to a handsome six-figure income. I was very successful, and knew nothing but money for over five straight years. I had a nice SUV, could afford nice clothes (and shopped frequently), went out to eat every other night at moderate to expensive restaurants, and took many trips skiing and to other places for vacation. However, I wasn't as happy in my career as I wanted, and knew it had to change. So, I changed careers to follow my purpose and launched AspireNow. 

At first, I moonlighted, and kept AspireNow "quiet" at my day job. Eventually, I turned down a high-paying job with Hewlett-Packard (now HP) that would have paid me the highest salary I'd ever earned. Why did I turn that much money down with a sure thing for a company that at the time was earning me no income? It was a sacrifice I made in order to live on purpose. I lost a lot of money from that decision, and common logic (perhaps even common sense) would have dictated that I was crazy and making a mistake. But was I? The future will tell. I believed in AspireNow so much that I was willing to give up the  big money opportunity in order to live on purpose. Has that decision cost me in other ways? Yes, I will not lie to you, it has. But I do not regret making the decision and would do it again in the same situation. The true question of if something is your true passion or your purpose is when you can answer the question "what will I give up in order to follow this purpose?"

So many people hit the bumps in the road and quit. Trust me, when you follow your purpose, not everything will be smooth sailing. There will be times that your car will get a flat tire on the way to an important meeting, or you may struggle to pay bills. There will be times that you may find parts of your support group does not see things your way and is discouraging to you. Or perhaps you may not know everything you need to run your business, or your roof on your house starts leaking the same month you were planning on launching that big advertising campaign.

Things happen. The point is, what are you willing to sacrifice to make your dream become reality? 

I used to go snow skiing about twenty to thirty days a year. This would involve many weekend trips to Lake Tahoe, Utah, Colorado, and other fun places in the mountains. It was a huge source of recreation in the winter in my life, prior to launching AspireNow. Since I launched AspireNow, I have been skiing a total of two days. One trip was snowed out with a blizzard, so in effect I have been skiing one day in the past five years. Do I miss it? You bet I do. But I've frequently worked weekends since launching my company and also in the early years did not have the budget to go skiing at expensive ski resorts. I made a sacrifice. 

I still get in nature, as I believe in life balance. Today, when I want to be near nature, I go on a hike, or I walk on the beach and walk by the surf. After all, I live only 4 minutes from the beach and it doesn't require lift tickets and expensive lodging. There are trade-offs. I may be a skier again in my future, but it isn't like my knees are what they used to be, either! 

So, although you probably didn't want to hear it, consider what you are willing to give up to live your life on purpose, or to go after that dream. How far are you willing to go? I know one man who had to go through a marital separation when he followed his purpose. His wife no longer supported (loved) him when he stopped earning the same income as previously. The pain this caused him was tremendous, yet he was committed to his dream.

After saying all of this, I also can share that the rewards for doing what you love are enormous, but if you do not have the stomach for it, don't do it. Many people start to launch a dream, and then they find out it is not as easy as they thought it would be. They work longer hours, they make less money, they have people in their support group tell them they're crazy or won't succeed, and then they quit. That's the vast majority of people -- if they even try. The people who succeed are those who have so much belief in their dream, so much commitment to success, so much persistence, that they never, never give up. 

How much do you believe in your life purpose calling? If you are filled with doubts, then you need to grow before taking the full plunge. However, you may be filled with faith and absolute belief this is the path for you, starting right now.

Are you one of those people? If so, go for it! If not, then start by taking a step each day in the positive direction. I encourage you to take risks and live your life on purpose. And, I won't lie to you: it isn't always easy! It takes integrity, faith, strength, perseverance, and a "damn the torpedoes" approach at times to succeed. Success is in the journey, and often when the storm waves are highest we don't see the calm in the horizon ahead, or that we've already succeeded in riding out the storm. So if you're in the middle of a sacrifice, and questioning what you are doing, I encourage you to have faith until the storm subsides. If the storm is causing your health to fail, then you're burning out and may need a break. So take care of yourself. There are times in battle when the odds are stacked against us; when we have to come back to fight another day when we have regrouped and figured out new strategies to win.

I believe that success is something that happens along the way to simply living our life on plan, by doing what is right (to your own self be true), what is most important right now (the right thing in each moment), and doing it consistently (repeated successful action equals a lifetime of success).

When you watch a football team play a game, you realize that they cannot throw deep every time they line up to call a play. Sometimes, they run the ball. Other times, they pass the ball. But if you are going to run the ball more often, you will not be able to pass the ball as much. The reason for that is because running plays keep the clock running causing more time to elapse off the clock than passing plays, and with more running plays you have less time to call passing plays. After all, there are only four quarters and football is played by a clock. So when a coach calls for the game plan to run the ball, he is sacrificing the quarterback's statistics, the wide receivers catches, and padding the running back's statistics, all in an effort to "control the clock." The coaches and players sacrifice one aspect of their game to maximum another. As in football, so often also in life.

In one area of your life you will manifest more, in others you will have less. So, when you consider taking action on your purpose, consider what you are willing to give up. Some things may be negative and easy to choose. Others may be creature comforts and very difficult to release. But, either way, it is a choice and without doubt you will face those choices when you live your life on purpose. After all, purposeful living is all about making proactive choices.

I wish you success in your decisions and choices you make in living your life on purpose. May your sacrifices be wise and your choices true to your calling.