It is always best to be single-minded to achieve a goal. Serving two masters, as Jesus said, never works out. You can try to fool yourself into believing you can keep a bunch of plates spinning simultaneously, but that is hardly ever the case. Having a heart and mind with a single purpose is always more effective at achieving your goal. This is the first truth that we must learn to accept if we want to see progress. Other truths are uncomfortable, such as the more aligned your goal is with what is best for humanity, the more likely you will succeed. If your goal is entirely selfish, you may have your reward at some point, but always putting others’ ahead of your ambition is a recipe for success. You may make a religious tie to this if you want to, but the practical reality is that when your goal has some alignment with what is best for others, then you have a magnification effect that is real. I connect spiritually to this concept, thus helping myself feel better about what I am doing and why. For this discussion, I am focusing on the third inconvenient truth that I have had to come to grips with. This is the need to remove distractions.
I am not discussing a casual concept, such as generalized advice that we should all remove distractions. I am talking about a drastic approach: cut it out of your life. Once again, Jesus taught this as well. If your eye is offending you, then cut it out. It sounds a little extreme, perhaps, but the question becomes, how committed to your goal are you? What is your will? What are you willing to do to achieve your highest aspiration?
This is probably the hardest question that you will have to answer in your lifetime. It is one that you will have to answer again and again. Can you walk away from things in order to make room for what is the most important to you? There are always things you can do to get to your goal, things you can commit to. However, unless you are willing to set aside other things that are distracting you and pulling you away, then you will only be giving a partial effort. Big aspirations require big commitments and, in return, require great sacrifice. This is not something that is solved in one moment or one decision. This is something that is repeatedly addressed throughout life. After having had the life experience, there is one thing that I know to be absolutely true, even though I do not like to hear it:
The times in my life when I have had the most success have also been when I have been willing to walk away from things that I wanted to do but were distracting me.
Now I do not know what your goal is. Hopefully, it is a big one. Hopefully, it will provide a great benefit to the human race. I also do not know what your distractions are. I can guarantee this; however, if you have a goal that you want to achieve, there are more than likely several distractions that are getting in your way. Do you want to achieve the goal? Then get out your scalpel and start slicing away the things in your life that are in the way. It will hurt. It will be hard, but this is where the real work begins.
When you are willing to sacrifice, then you prove to the universe that you are willing to do what it takes to win. This sends a message to yourself and to others that you are in the game and that you are dedicated to achieving the goal. I would call this the prerequisite. You can pretend to be dedicated to a cause while you half-heartedly try to achieve the goal, but the reality is you are not all in until you are literally all in.
Does social media distract you? Cut it out. Delete everything. Do you have a side hustle going on? Is that the distraction, or is the primary job the distraction? Whichever it is, cut it out. Is there a relationship that is not worth your long-term commitment that is weighing you down? Cut it out. Do you have a bad habit that is getting in the way of your performance? Cut it out. Are you clinging to a revenue source because you “need the money?” Cut it out. Do you have a hobby that takes way too much time and resources from you? Cut it out.
Behind every successful person that I have ever met is a string of discarded things that they had to eliminate in their lives to be focused. Success does not have to mean riches, either. I have met some genuinely happy people who cut their big salary jobs out so they could focus on their real goal, which was to grow old together and enjoy spending time with grandkids. I have also met several people who did not achieve their goals, and this was almost always because they were clinging to some favorite thing, which prevented them from making a real commitment. I have learned this lesson repeatedly in my life. Sometimes, I have chosen to make the sacrifices, and sometimes, I have not. Without exception, when I have been willing to put all my precious things on the chopping block, theseare the times when I have had the greatest success.
So here we are, at the crossroads of choice. The question isn’t whether or not you have the ability to achieve your goal; it’s whether you have the willingness to do what’s necessary. It’s never an easy decision. The distractions, the comforts, the things that you hold dear—they all have a place in your life, but their place may not be alongside your ultimate ambition. At some point, you must make the call: Are you willing to let go of what’s holding you back?
Understand this, though: the path to success is not paved with instant gratification or half-hearted efforts. It’s a long, winding road that requires constant reevaluation of what really matters. Each sacrifice is a step forward, and with each step, you get closer to becoming the person you are meant to be. But it will require you to be ruthless in cutting away what doesn’t serve your purpose. This isn’t about being harsh for the sake of it; it’s about clearing the path to make room for something greater.
In the end, it comes down to a simple truth: what are you willing to give up to get where you want to go? Because success, true success, demands that you leave behind anything that stands in your way. And when you do—when you finally make the decision to cut it out—you’ll realize that the only thing you ever truly needed was your commitment to the journey ahead. That’s where the real power lies. In the end, the sacrifices you make are not losses, but investments in your future, in your potential, in the life you truly want to live. And that’s when the goal stops being just a dream—it becomes your reality.
