THE PRICE TAG OF GREATNESS: Behind Every Achievement Is A Story Of Sacrifice

“Every glory has a story, and the story is the price. No price, no prize.” - Abundant Robert K. AWOLUGUTU

The Manyoro Gold Mine Story
In Manyoro, two boys, Wekem and Welana, find a gold map. Wekem sees gold and shouts, “We are rich!” and goes home to sleep. Welana sees the same gold but asks, “What must I dig? What tools do I need? How deep and how long should I dig?

Both wanted the prize. Welana paid the price and became rich.

In his classic The Success Principles, Jack Canfield wrote, “Behind every great achievement is a story of education, training, practice, discipline and sacrifice. You have to be willing to pay the price.” Indeed, every glory has a story, and the story is the price. No price, no prize.

I have 200 + articles on Modern Ghana. They did not come by wishing. I paid the price – sleepless nights price, 5 am price, research price, data bundle price, rejection price, and more.

WHY GHANA YOUTH MISS GREATNESS – They Love Prize, Hate Price

Social media is awash with celebrities displaying achievements. The youth see Range Rover, V8 cars, magnificent mansions. What they don’t see is the price – daily practice, sustained effort, failed businesses, fasting, discipline, determination, grit, and tenacity.

Every success has a price tag. Manyoro proverb says, “You cannot eat the skin of the goat and also keep the goat.”

DECODING THE 5 PRICE TAGS – Jack Canfield Formula

1. EDUCATION -The Price of Learning

Knowledge is an essential ingredient in the recipe for success. It is not about memorizing facts; it is the ability to think up solutions to problems.

Remember, formal education will give you a job, but self-education will make you rich.

Success leaves clues. When you read success-nurturing books, you learn the ways of the rich and those who have succeeded.

You are admonished to buy motivational books instead of beer, listen to the teachings by experts instead of gossip, and pay for data for knowledge, not just for TikTok.

ACTION: What book will you read this month to pay the education price?

2. TRAINING – The Price of Mentorship

Education provides information, but training equips you with the skills to survive and succeed. Training is given by experts.

I have followed the teachings of gurus like Brian Tracy, Charlie Tremendous Jones, Jack Canfield, Robert T. Kiyosaki, Robin Sharma, Bob Proctor, and Napoleon Hill. Their books contain the secrets of success.

In Ghana, youth receive vocational guidance and training from qualified public and private institutions. Suame Magazine in Kumasi provides training in auto-mechanics, welding and fabrication, electricals, blacksmithing etc.

No one becomes great alone – get a mentor, a guide, a coach. Meta AI Assistant is my GUIDE

ACTION: Who is your mentor? Are you teachable? Trainable?

3. PRACTICE – The Price of Repetition

After training, you hone your craft through consistent practice. If you don’t practice, you begin to lose what you knew.

Practice polishes talent. We perform better as a result. No one becomes an expert without practice.

Michelangelo said: “If people knew how hard I had to work to gain my mastery, it wouldn’t seem wonderful at all.”

Here the Manyoro Archer fits: He visualizes, then shoots 100 arrows daily – practice makes bullseye normal.

Price: Doing the same thing even when you don’t feel like it. Writing when no one claps. Farming when rain is erratic.

ACTION: What one skill will you practice 30 minutes daily for 90 days?

4. DISCIPLINE – The Price of Saying No

Discipline is sacrifice of what you want now for what you want most! Golden Sunrise 5am discipline – writing while others are sleeping.

Many youth fail because of lack of discipline with phone, money, time, food, and friends. Idleness destroys.

Two farmers – one disciplines himself to weed every morning, while the other weeds at his convenience. Their harvests tell the story.

ACTION: What one No will give you your YES? No to late nights? No to impulse buying?

5. SACRIFICE – The Price of Letting Go

Every success has a price tag. To gain something, you must give up something. Success demands sacrifice of time, comfort, friends who pull you down, fear and excuses. I wrote articles for free for newspapers before some gave me allowance for data bundles.

Jack Canfield sacrificed years before Chicken Soup for the Soul became a bestseller – it was rejected 144 times!

ACTION: What are you willing to sacrifice this year for your dream?

THE TWO BROTHERS -Price Tag Version
Songbu and Atawora both want to build a house.

Songbu spends his salary on women, drinks and drugs. He wants a house next year and says, “God will provide.” Atawora pays the price: he invests savings in his building project, moulds blocks, buys land, nails, wood, and engages a mason.

After 2 years, Atawora lives in his own mansion. Songbu is still renting. He curses his stars and blames government. He says Ghana is hard.

Moral: Ghana is not hard – the price is hard. Pay it.

THE RECEIPT -How To Know You Are Paying Price

5 signs you are paying the price:

1. You are tired but fulfilled
2. Your friends don’t understand you
3. You are learning new things weekly
4. You are failing forward { small failures}
5. You are alone sometimes – to meditate and visualize. If you are not seeing these, you are not paying, you are playing.

COMMON MISTAKES THAT REFUSE TO PAY

1. Looking for shortcuts – sakawa, quick money – no price, crash and failure.
2. Paying price for the wrong things – watching movies instead learning a skill.
3. Starting to pay, but stopping along the way – digging gold halfway.
4. Complaining without paying – it cancels the request. Pay with joy -Law of Increase.

CONCLUSION -Your Glory Needs Your Story

Challenge: Write your own price list! What will you pay this month?

Call-to-Action: Choose one -education, training, practice, discipline, sacrifice – start today. Pay small daily.

GOLDEN QUOTES FROM THE AUTHOR

1. “Every glory has a story, and the story is the price. No price, no prize.”
2. “Dream is free, but becoming is not. Greatness demands a receipt.”
3. “The hunter who wants big elephant must sleep small sleep and walk long road.”
4. “You cannot eat the skin of the goat and also keep the goat – Manyoro.”
5. “Harvest is free, but weeding is not – pay the weeding, get the harvest.”
6. “No sacrifice, no success. Pay small price daily, collect big prize one day.”
7. “You want the shining car, but are you willing to pay the fueling? Success has fuel.”
8. “Greatness is not for cheap buyers – it is for price payers.”

Yours in inspiration,
Abundant Robert K. AWOLUGUTU
Writer and Author -Golden Sunrise