Today is a special day for me. It marks the 730th day since I started my first habit, which I labeled at the time “The 365 Commitment.” That marks exactly 2 consecutive years that I have kept the same habit every day since January 6th, 2018. Since that time, I have added many other habits. I have built habits and removed a few along the way. Learning to keep, maintain, and focus on new habits along the way. I have had many ups and a few downs, but the net result has been extremely positive. I have accomplished a few things along the way, achieved feats that I did not think were possible. I set out to accomplish a few major objectives along the way. There were several, and here I am at the 2nd year mark having realized that I accomplished most of them, or at least made giant leaps of progress.
The commitment I started was a bit of a gamble. My thought was if I make the sacrifice and commit to doing this particular habit for 365 days in a row, will I be able to achieve my goals? I wanted to prove this out. I wanted to prove that if I made a commitment, or a sacrifice if you will, then I would in return get what I was after. As it turns out, I discovered that this law of sacrifice really works. However, it has some conditions.
If you are willing to make the right sacrifice, and you are pure in your intent and you keep up your end of the bargain, then God, the Universe or whatever you want to call it, will reciprocate as long as what you want is in good faith. Let me explain further, I think this is a crucial point. It is a pivotal point, a point on which if you focus you can create a radical change in your own life. What is the “the right sacrifice?” Sorry, I cannot help you here, and I am sure that if you ask a person from one religion or another they will all chime in with lots of ideas! However, I will give you a few guidelines. Here they are:
- The right sacrifice has to be something that you think is a really good idea, but is not something that you want to do. This is the critical point and you will know you have the right idea when you can answer both these questions with a yes. Is the idea something you do not want to do? Is the idea something that you know that you really should do?
- The idea should be really difficult in its totality. Meaning, something that will not be overwhelming to you to do in one day, but something that if you add it all up will be really hard. The best ideas for me have been ones that I have to do every day, and the individual act is not that hard, but considering doing it every day for 365 days is.
Once you have determined what your sacrifice is going to be, you then need to consider what you want. Now what you want cannot be exponentially worth more than the sacrifice, that just does not work with the laws of nature. However, what you want can be reasonable and it can be big, or at least big to you. What you want must also be in good faith. What do I mean by that? You cannot expect to earn something you do not deserve and you certainly cannot expect to gain something for the wrong reasons. Sure, there are stories of rock and roll legends like Robert Johnson selling his soul to the devil in exchange for his unique guitar playing ability but let’s be serious. Robert Johnson became legend at the guitar because he played that guitar until his fingers bled everyday of his life. He put in the time, he practiced, he played, he played some more and somewhere along the way became freakishly good at playing the blues. So the goal you pick has to be in line with, commiserate with and in harmony with the sacrifice that you are willing to make.
I do not know, nor do I need to know, exactly why or how the Law of Sacrifice works – it just does. You figure out something you are willing to give up, or better yet, give and make a commitment to do so for a year and you WILL get what you want. Do not believe me? Then try it. Prove me wrong. Good luck, because I have tried this now many many times and every time it has worked. It is like a universal law written into the cosmos. I am not the only one to tap into this idea. Ever major religion, and several minor ones have figured this out. Every new age, and few old age self-help people have also figured it out. There are thousands of books on this topic, all with different names. The point is all the same.
The law of sacrifice states that if you do your end of the bargain, you will receive your boon. So what are you waiting for?
Guy Reams (730)
