Tip of the Week

Tip of the Week Archive

The "price you pay" isn't always a penalty.

As a young boy growing up I often heard that I would have to "pay the price" in order to succeed in anything I was doing.  At football practice, I was told I would have to pay the price to get into shape and work hard to make the team.  In the classroom I was told I would have to pay the price of studying hard in order to make good grades.  As an adult in business, I have been told that I would have to pay the price to be successful and financially prosperous.  Every time I have heard the words, "pay the price" it has sounded hard and harsh, almost like I was going to be penalized or take a beating.
 
I have come to see that the price you pay is not always a penalty.  Sometimes it is simply the price tag of the experience you want to achieve. 
 
Every life experience has a learning curve.  It is necessary to learn self-discipline and to do things that have not been done in the past.  I believe that when we look at those experiences as the "price you pay," it puts us in a negative mind-set.  I think it would be much better to look at that concept in a more positive light that says, "There will be a great benefit to this experience after I have gone through the learning process and achieved new heights of success."
 
I know this is true in relationships with other people.  It seems that we pay a price when we risk being hurt or are learning how to interact with others in a way that is beneficial and healthy to both parties.  Sometimes we stumble in that process, but I know from my own experience, that every lesson I have ever learned has turned out to be more of a benefit to me in the long run, than simply a price I had to pay in order to go through that experience.
 
This is a similar concept to paying tuition in order to go through school.  All schools of higher learning charge tuition and it is the price you pay in order to get an education.  But, recognizing the long-lasting benefit of that experience is much better than feeling frustrated because you had to pay the price to get it.
 
I do not know how much it costs these days for a physician to go through medical school, but wouldn't we all agree that whatever the price that was paid is far outweighed by the benefit that is achieved?  The same would be true for school teachers, bankers, lawyers, business owners, and sales people, etc. 
 
It may seem like a difficult or negative experience to pay the price to get up early, go to work and work hard every day.  But, when you believe that you have made a difference in people's lives, achieved a measure of success, and experienced personal growth in the process, that benefit is worth the price you may have had to pay. 
 
This week, let me encourage you to adjust your thinking and put on fresh glasses in order to see things from this new perspective.  You may be facing situations that feel difficult and hard.  You may even feel like you are in the process of taking a beating!  You may feel that you are being made to "pay the price." Why not choose instead to simply look at the personal benefit and reward you will have for what you have gone through?  That benefit will stay with you for the rest of your life and will make you a better person, a higher achiever, and more valuable to yourself and others as well.  When you look at things that way, you are truly seeing life from the best perspective possible and you become the winner for it!

This information is provided in congruence with Personality Insights USA.

Tip of the Week Archive