An army sent off to war, even if victorious, will return a bedraggled, maimed mob of madmen. Whatever proportionality between means and ends that may have once existed on the field of battle no longer exists. Even the victors must pass through a slaughterhouse on the way to victory. - No More Heroes: Madness and Psychiatry in War

We all want to reach our goals, but are you sure you understand the price you will pay?

You’ve heard of Pyrrhic victories, based on Pyrrhus, the king of Epirus, who defeated the Romans in 279 BC but paid a terrible price in losing many of his troops. There are many areas in which the costs of winning are greater than the win itself.  

Society obsesses over victory and success but often ignores the costs of getting there. Whether it’s getting to the coveted CEO position, winning a gold medal, or being an entrepreneur, all are incredibly worthy goals, but with potentially enormous costs.

That’s not to say the cost is not worth it. For some people, the cost is absolutely worth it and they pay it with a smile on their face. But then there’s many people who never consider or don’t even know the cost it will take to achieve what they think they want. The focus is always on the benefits, never on the costs.

Scott Adams, author of How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life, suggests finding out the price it is of what you want, and then be ready to pay it:

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever heard goes something like this: If you want success, figure out the price, then pay it. It sounds trivial and obvious, but if you unpack the idea it has extraordinary power.

When you decide to be successful in a big way, it means you acknowledge the price and you’re willing to pay it. That price might be sacrificing your personal life to get good grades in school, pursuing a college major that is deadly boring but lucrative, putting off having kids, missing time with your family, or taking business risks that put you in jeopardy for embarrassment, divorce, or bankruptcy.

The point is not to avoid high achievement. Instead, it’s simply to acknowledge and consider the cost you will need to pay to get what you want.

Getting to the NFL is every football player’s dream, except if you talk to former players with broken bodies. Or those with CTE. Or those who couldn’t handle the public criticism. Or those that couldn’t handle the idea that they could be released and replaced at any minute. Think hard if you want to walk through that slaughterhouse.

It’s similar to being a CEO. What could be better than travelling by private jet, receiving incredible compensation, and becoming a community icon? All great things, except for the sacrifices required along the way. Long hours, constant stress, everyone looking to you for the answer, and everyone blaming you for the failures. Again, the cost might be worth it, but make sure it’s being considered.

What about a celebrity? Lots of fame, attention, and money. But also incessant tabloids, gossip, and zero privacy. And lots of grifters pretending to be your friends. Trust will be hard to come by. Jim Carrey put it best, “I wish everyone could experience being rich and famous, so they’d see it wasn’t the answer to anything.”

Success, and its requisite cost, is a packaged deal. You can’t have one without the other. Think carefully about what it will take to get to where you want.