“You have to fight to reach your dream. You have to sacrifice and work hard for it.” Lionel Messi
Greatness is not handed out on a silver platter. It is bought with sacrifice of time, sweat, and the pain of improvement. The emotional roller coaster of competition. Losing friendships. Current pleasure traded for the future treasure of a dream few can comprehend and fewer can achieve.
Every athlete has fought through injuries and the frustration of rehab.
Every PhD sacrificed sleep to write their dissertation.
Every musician stayed inside on beautiful days practicing.
Every writer has been rejected.
In the war for art, we all have scars from what we have battled through.
Most people don’t become excellent in their field because it isn’t convenient. It isn’t easy to push yourself over and over and over to develop your talents. Only about 7% of high school varsity athletes play in college. There are almost 800 college football programs, yet there are only 32 starting quarterbacks in the NFL and they average $7m in salary. The dream is worth the sacrifices.
To reach your goals there are two opponents: the one across from you and the one within you. The one within is always tougher and is the greatest impediment to our dreams.