One must sacrifice to achieve success.
Hundreds of books have been written with this simple corollary as the central principle.
In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell cites the 10,000 hour rule: that to achieve mastery in a field, one must expend 10,000 hours of effort. This points to sacrifice as a key element of success.
Many highly successful people suffer a cruel post-success irony:
Sacrifice Follow Success
While many willingly sacrifice everything to achieve success; they are unprepared for the daunting sacrifices that come after success.
Successful business owners find their businesses all consuming: almost no time for friends and family. CEOs may travel over 200 days per year overseeing global enterprises. Lots of money, but not much quality of life. Celebrities can no longer enjoy the simple pleasures of a dinner out with family or loved ones without being hounded by paparazzi and adoring fans seeking autographs.
Inventors Have a Remedy
The good news is that inventors have a unique remedy for the post-success sacrifice dilemma: licensing.
Interestingly, average workers, business owners, and CEOs share one similarity: they all exchange time for money. In the end, we will be forever sacrificing our precious and limited time (only 24 hours in a day) to acquire more money.
Instead of selling your time for money, why not get someone else to sell your product for money? That is the essence of licensing which provides the inventor with the ability to leverage an unlimited commodity (a product) for money.
By accepting a small portion of the sales as a royalty, the inventor can clear the calendar to have 100% of time to do whatever he or she wishes.
That is success without post-success sacrifices. Not a bad deal!
Stay tuned!