… view what you’re giving up as an investment instead.
As a high-performer, you’ll have more opportunities than you know what to do with. As you continue to grow in your career, you’ll have to make tough sacrifices. When you give things up all the time, it’s easy to begin feeling guilty, resentful or depressed because sacrificing often focuses you on what you’re losing.
If you feel that you’re giving up too much but find it necessary to continue doing so, consider reframing sacrificing as investing instead. This simple shift helps you to focus your attention on what you gain as opposed to what you lose.
This can be used for personal sacrifices as well. For example:
When my son was born, I went from playing basketball weekly to stopping completely. I initially saw this as a sacrifice I would gladly make for my son but then it seemed like my life was shrinking. This made it easy to blame my son any time I wanted to play but couldn’t.
What changed my perspective was reframing the act of giving up basketball into investing in being a better father. No longer was I being punished but rather I’ve made the conscious choice to invest my time and energy to reach my aspirations. This allowed me to take back the power that I was giving up when I thought I was sacrificing and the negative feelings dissipated.
Remember: When you can, think invest rather than sacrifice.
Photo by Quinn Dombrowski
