Everyone Wants to go to Heaven, but Nobody Wants to Die
“Luck favors the prepared mind..."
My dearest friend and mentor was diagnosed with terminal cancer years ago and one morning, after breakfast, I asked him how he was able to be so brave. His reply was simple, “Everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.” You must be okay with saying goodbye to everything you know as comfortable, safe, and easy to create space for the next big thing.
It’s so easy to sit back and say that another person’s accomplishments were so easy. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard envious people say, that someone else is wealthy because all they did was simply attend medical school, or build an empire by random luck, or fall into an amazing job. When you look closely, there was nothing easy about any of those accomplishments. All success boils down to working hard, being smart with both time and effort, and leaning into discomfort. Own the pain.
It’s the discomfort that scares most of us away from true success. We can’t miss a party, or time with friends, or even bedtime. It’s hard to say no to loved ones or friends when working on building the next great thing for you. If you want to reach the next level, the life that you know needs to slowly go away to create space for the new one. In essence, you have to die from who you were to be who you are going to be. It’s uncomfortable, scary, and necessary.
There is a myth that luck is the reason why successful people have the lives they have. It’s a myth! Nobody sees the grunt work. When someone is out of sight, they are also out of mind – the long hours studying or practicing to perfect a craft aren’t noticed by everyone who RSVP’d “yes” for a party. If you aren’t there, nobody will really notice, and nobody will notice the behind the scenes hard work either. By buckling down, putting in the work to get there and saying no to invitations that won’t help your life or career, you are also saying goodbye to what life was like and opening yourself up to what will come next.
One evening, after putting in all the hard work, when you’re absolutely exhausted and feeling vulnerable about the thankless work you’ve put in, you may be ready for the hardest prayer I know. When I know for sure that I’ve done everything I possibly can, and I go to bed each night knowing that there is no way that I could have worked harder, I eventually reach a breaking point for letting go and trusting. The hardest prayer ever, in my opinion, is trusting in the universe to protect you on your path. There is a moment when you’ve done all the work, and all that’s left is the reaction to what you created.
Is it vulnerable? Yes. Is it scary? Yes. Can you avoid it and be successful? No.
Put yourself out there. Work hard and create the very best version of your vision. Then, when there is nothing left in you, trust in the universe.
In Louis Pasteur’s words, “luck favors the prepared mind.” Maybe that’s the point of sacrificing so much…to reach the next level and simply make it look like luck.