Why I don’t Believe in Sacrifice

I still remember sitting in a car with my boyfriend of a time, sharing with him my aspiration to quit my full-time job and fully dedicate my time to my own business.

As a freelancer, he could relate to what I was saying. Only that in that time he really struggled to get any job offers, so when I mentioned I wanted to be self-employed he immediately started listing all the reasons why it will be very difficult for me to succeed.

This is not a story about my relationship, my ex or the breakup. It’s not a story about building my business, either.

It’s about sacrifice, and why I don’t believe in it.

He told me that day in a car that working for yourself requires a lot of sacrifice.

I thought for a little bit, and then replied: “I don’t believe in sacrifice”

This is my belief, so it doesn’t mean that sacrifice doesn’t exists or that you can’t believe in it. We choose our beliefs, and this is why I chose not to believe in sacrifice.

Sacrifice is often (if not always) presented as a necessary step to achieving your goals and dreams. If you want something, you have to be ready to sacrifice.

You have to fight to reach your dream. You have to sacrifice and work hard for it. ~Lionel Messi

Here is why I don’t agree.

The word sacrifice has a negative connotation. It means giving up something that you want.

Sacrifice means making a choice that leaves us a bit regretting and sad about letting go of something we’d like. In some cases, it makes us even bitter and angry that we had to say no to something we wanted.

All of that implies that sacrifice feels forced. Either by somebody or by ourselves.

If I have a dream that I’m crazy about, then I will happily choose that dream over other things. Nobody needs to force me to sacrifice anything. I don’t have to force myself to sacrifice anything.

What I do, rather than sacrifice, is dedication. I dedicate my time, my energy, my heart, my thoughts, to that one dream I’m working on.

I can’t even remember how many times I woke up at 5am to work on my business.

Did I sacrifice my sleep or health for that? Of course not! Every single time I woke up naturally without the alarm clock, feeling awake, fresh and inspired to work.

It wasn’t hard, it wasn’t forced. It was easy! It was natural, and effortless.

I have never sacrificed anything for the sake of a dream or a goal.

I always consciously chose what I preferred and never felt bitter or upset for having have to choose.

I wanted to choose.

If you tell me that you have to sacrifice a lot for your dream, it means it’s not your dream.

Because if you really wanted that, it would be easy. You would feel motivated and determined to work towards this goal. You would not regret letting go of anything else for that dream.

Sacrifice is just an excuse for hard work towards something you don’t really care about so much… Sacrifice makes us feel noble. But it doesn’t bring us any closer to our true dreams or desires.