The Trade-Off...

Have you ever thought about all the choices you make daily? From the time you roll out of bed in the morning until you crawl back into the bed at the end of the day, you're making hundreds of decisions. And many of these decisions are often made with little thought.

Life is truly a series of exchanges. Every day, and all day long, we choose "this" over "that". But do you really give serious thought to these choices?

Jim Collins opens his book, "Good to Great" with a powerful statement: "Good is the enemy of great. And that's one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great...Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is so easy to settle for a good life."

A few paragraphs later, he asks a thought-provoking question, "...is the disease of 'just being good' curable?"

The 11th Law of Growth is the Law of the Trade-Off. As John Maxwell says, "You have to give up to grow up." Far too many of us live far below our potential, because we are unwilling to let go of what's comfortable to reach for what's possible. And it is only when we let go of the familiar, the comfortable, that we have the opportunity to stretch toward our full potential as a Black Belt Leader in Life.

I remember the first time I went free-climbing. There was a cliff face not too far from where I grew up that my friends and I would climb. We got pretty good at using the cables attached to the top of this cliff face and over time it became almost second nature to scurry up the side of this mountain to enjoy the beautiful view of the Arkansas River below.

Then came the day when a friend was visiting from out of town. He wanted to go visit our favorite climbing spot, but this time he didn't want to use the cables. He wanted to free-climb. It was just under 85 feet to the top of the rock from where we would ascend, and the rock face was scarred, with several small protrusions to gain a hand or foothold. But if you slipped, that's a long way to fall without a safety rope.

We approached the rock face, and without a moment's hesitation, my friend started up the side of the mountain. Not wanting to be labeled a sissy, I took a deep breath, found a good grip on the rock face, and started up after him. It was scary fun, especially when I got about halfway up the rock face and had to really stretch to reach the next finger hold. As I neared the top, I could see the smile on my friend's face as he saw me nearing the top.

Trade-offs don't always have to be this intense, but they are required if we want to move from "good to great". If Columbus had chosen to do what was comfortable, he would never have crossed the Atlantic. If Edmund Hillary had chosen the easy, he would have never have been the first to summit Mount Everest.

In life, we all come to forks in the road. These decision-intersections require a choice, a trade-off, in order for you to proceed. You can choose to stay on the easy road of convenience (status quo) or you can elect to walk a different path. It may be steeper, rockier, more challenging...but the road to significance is always uphill.

To achieve a significant life, significant trade-offs will be required.

In discussing the Law of Trade Offs, John Maxwell says: "When you want something you have never had, you must do something you've never done to get it...The difference between where we are and where we want to be is created by the changes we are willing to make in our lives."

Many times, these trade-offs are personal. They cost us something. But to achieve a life of significance, it is going to cost you something. If you're not willing to pay, then you will never reach your potential. Ask any Olympic athlete, any professional sports figure and they will tell you that to achieve their potential, it was hard work. Choices affecting family, relationships, money, food, travel, location, work ethic, pain, mental duress, emotional highs and lows...there is no significance without sacrifice.

And the tougher truth is this...the higher up the ladder you go toward achieving your full potential, the more difficult (and at times more painful) the trade-offs. Henry Kissinger, former Secretary of State said, "Each success only buys you an admission ticket to a more difficult problem." But with each successive problem you solve, you rise another rung on the potential ladder - and come closer to living a life of significance.

The good news is that trade-offs help introduce you to a better version of you. And with each successful choice you make as you face life's trade-offs on the road to significance, the easier it becomes to make the next great choice. You release more and more of the amazing potential within, and you discover you are climbing the mountain, without a rope, and getting closer to the top with each stretching of your capabilities.

Let me be quick to add there are some trade-offs in life that simply aren't worth taking. Those what negatively impact your character. The values, morals and beliefs of a true Black Belt Leader in Life are not to be put on the trade-off block. When you make a choice that is inconsistent with your values, morals and beliefs, you violate the integrity of who you are. Once you start down this dark path, significance is forever beyond your reach.

When it comes to trade-offs, pain comes before gain. But gain does come, and when it does, you realize the sacrifice, the effort, and the pain was worth it. The investment you make in yourself today can release the potential within you tomorrow. The convenience you trade off today to grow yourself opens the door to move toward significance tomorrow. The willingness to get out of your comfort zone, move past the status quo, today sets the stage for you to truly become world-class at what you do tomorrow - adding value and changing lives all along the way.

A few years ago I was privileged to hear the son of Sir Edmund Hillary share a personal story of his efforts to retrace his father's steps as he too made the summit of Everest. One of the things he made a point of telling those of us in the room was that you have to take what is necessary to make the trek up the mountain, but to make it to the top, there are things that you have to leave behind. You make the final trek up Everest with the bare essentials to achieve your destiny.

Far too many people attempt to summit the Mountain of Significance carrying too much stuff. John Maxwell concludes The Law of the Trade Off with a reminder that we can't keep adding without giving up anything and expect to reach our potential: "If nothing changes, nothing changes." Sacrifices must be made it we want to reach our potential and live a life of significance as a Black Belt Leader in Life.

So here's my challenge question as you contemplate the Law of Trade Offs. As you face the Summit of Significance, in order to reach the pinnacle of your Potential, you will face those decision-intersections along the climb. To go from "Good Today" to "Great Tomorrow"...

What are you willing to give up in order to go up?

REMINDER: We are on Week Eleven of learning to apply John Maxwell's "15 Invaluable Laws of Growth" to our lives. We spend one week focused on practicing daily one growth law, then the next week, we add the next growth law, without neglecting what we've already started to practice.

To order John Maxwell's 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth, click HERE.

2X martial arts Hall of Fame inductee, John Terry is a motivational speaker, leadership, sales & communication coach and trainer.   

Through his coaching and training company, IMGA.com, John (and his daughter, Jessie) seeks to INSPIRE others to see their limitless potential, MOTIVATE them to pursue black belt excellence as a leader in life, GROW personally and professionally and ACHIEVE greatness through living a life of significance.  

For more information, schedule John (or Jessie) to speak to your organization or to book a personal, group or corporate coaching session, visit www.IMGA.com.  

If you are a faith-based organization, learn more about John and Jessie's outreach to churches, para-church organizations or faith-based volunteer groups by visiting www.DunamisFactor.com.

John is an Executive Director with the John Maxwell Team and is passionate about helping others pursue excellence as they become "Leaders in Life".  

Jessie is a Certified Speaker, Coach and Trainer with the John Maxwell Team. By the age of 18, Jessie has traveled to Guatemala and Cameroon, Africa to challenge and inspire young people to believe in themselves, and (regardless of age) to pursue with passion the dream within them. She is actively involved in the JMT Global Youth Initiative. Jessie was the youngest JMT member to ever speak on the Big Stage at the International Maxwell Certification conference in Orlando, FL in February, 2018.

Jessie's first children's book, Ebenezer's Journal, is available on Amazon.com.

Join Ebenezer as he uses the power of imagination to transform Dr. Lime's School of Normal Monsters into something amazing. See AWARENESS on display as Ebenezer awakens the dreams of his fellow students to transform his school and his community.

A fun read that can start young children on their own personal leadership growth journey. Buy a copy for yourself, and a copy to share with someone else.

?Click HERE to order.?