Success is very costly. The cost is far more than most people are ready to pay. This is why very few get to certain levels of success. The rest would rather avoid the cost. In avoiding the cost, they also avoid the reward. In life, we do not get what we want, we get what we deserve;

business, writing multiple books, speaking to tens of thousands in seminars and other forums and studying the lives of other highly successful people, I have realized that success is not cheap. I have compiled the list to help us understand the real cost. Some people think that they will succeed overnight but that is not true. There is no overnight success. You have to put in the work. Let’s get right into the cost.

1. Early mornings and late nights

Successful people do not think like the rest of the people. For the average person, 8-5 is the normal working time. After 5, they believe that it is time to rest and enjoy life. For those who achieve massive success, every time is working time. They work on their dreams at any time that they have the opportunity to do so. Most highly successful people wake up between 3 and 5 am while the average people wake up way past 5 am. Others work almost the whole night and sleep in the morning while others are waking up. This is just how it is. Big goals need more time to manifest. If you want success, you must never oversleep. You have to choose between early mornings or late nights and stick to your choice until you get success.

2. Multiple rejections

Rejection is normal in the path of success. Successful people are rejected multiple times until they get used to it. They do not take the rejection personally. They use it as fuel. As they always say, the best revenge is success. If you are to get to success, be ready to be rejected. Colonel Sanders was rejected 1009 times before a restaurant could accept his fried chicken recipe.

Always keep trying. When you are rejected, dust yourself off and move on. Get used to rejection. Even after you start getting progress, you will still find people rejecting you.

3. Discouragement from friends/relatives

Any time you set out to do something great, your people will not understand you. They will not understand why you are not playing it safe. They will think that you are too young to take such a big challenge head-on. This is brought by familiarity. It always breeds contempt. They will try to talk you out.

When I decided to get into entrepreneurship rather than get a job after campus, my closest relatives and friends were the first to discourage me. They never thought that a young person could do anything great without first getting a day job. Do not hate them, just understand them and keep moving on. Your family may have your best interest at heart but that does not mean that they are right. Keep following your heart.

4. Abandonment by friends

Even after discouragement from friends, most will go ahead and leave you. When you become serious with your dreams, you lose almost all your friends. They cannot figure out why you are acting differently. They cannot understand why you are no longer interested in wasting time with them. They feel that you are pretending to be above them. This makes them hostile and the result is abandonment. This is normal. Keep walking.

5.  Envy from peers

When you start making progress, your age mates will envy you. They will want to bring you down. They cannot imagine that you are leaving them in misery, poverty, and ignorance. They will stop liking your Facebook posts that show your progress. They will not purchase your products. When you are launching your products, they will not show up. When you see this, be happy because it is a sign that you are doing something great.

6. Uncertainty

This is a necessary evil on the journey to greatness. Success calls for high risk which comes in handy with uncertainty. You will not see the whole process. You will not be sure of success. You will not know what lies ahead because you can be a multimillionaire the next day or you can be auctioned and thrown into the streets by your creditors. This is uncertainty. Great men have to cope with it every day. You have to start being okay with uncertainty because the only certain path is that which leads to mediocrity and poverty. The path that leads to success have no clear path, you have to move anyway. This uncertainty brings pressure from within because the brain hates risk.

7. Financial losses

This is also guaranteed. When you start doing great things, you will often fail. This failure is most accompanied by financial losses. I have never met a rich person who has never lost money. The fact that you do not lose means that you do not risk. At one time, successful people get huge financial losses.

I have lost hundreds of thousands of investment in my journey to success. I have lost my office, my furniture, and electronics. I have lost money that I had invested waiting for a big deal. The deal was almost guaranteed but I still lost money. There is no safe position when it comes to this. You will have to lose to learn and gain. Your love for gain should be greater than your fear of failure.

8. Criticism from elites

When you start attempting great things, the politically correct individuals will criticize you. These are the people who are very educated but are just playing it safe. They are people who are used to the system and they judge everything based on the environment. They will tell you that the economy is bad, that your business model is not viable, that your idea needs more financial resources.

The critics are people who never do anything. They are always finding fault in what other people do. They shout from the valley to a person who is climbing the hills. They will tell you that there are wild animals at the top and yet, they have never been there. Do not listen to such people, just prove them wrong.

9. Sleepless nights

Big ideas keep the brain very active. You will sometime lack sleep because your brain is constantly coming up with innovative ideas to get to your dreams. I have experienced it in my life. I got my greatest ideas at night on my bed. Just rolling over trying to sleep but I cannot. This is a product of obsession to the cause. It shows that a man is consumed by an idea. It is this obsession that brings success.

10. Loss of social status

This is bound to happen. When you start doing something great, you will go broke at first. This is because of two reasons. One, you have to fail first before you succeed. Two, all your income will be used to grow and get to your vision. This means that you will not have enough to keep up with the Johnnies. People who adore cash will despise you and this will feel like you are not going ahead. Do not worry, you are building your asset column. Assets will always consume cash before they generate some. The good thing is that when they do, it will be enough to buy your friends out.

11. Little or no entertainment

This is also very common. As you march towards your vision, you will have to sacrifice entertainment for work and education. You will have to do away with your favorite TV programs, do away with useless social media browsing, avoid partying during the weekends, avoid movie nights, etc. This is the cost of greatness. With such a lifestyle, your friends will find you weird and boring. Do not worry, you are on the right path.

In anything worth that you try to achieve, there will always be an associated cost. The problem is that the cost will always be higher than you anticipated. You thought it would take 6 months but it may end up taking 3 years. You thought that it will cost one million to stabilize, it may cost 10 million. You thought that your friends and family will support and appreciate you but those closest to you end up becoming your greatest obstacle. Be ready to put in 10 times what you think it will cost. The best remedy is to have a mentality of never quitting. Promise yourself that no matter the cost, you are holding on. The process may be painful but the destination is pleasant. Keep your eyes on the goal. Come rain or sunshine, hell or high water, it is not over until you win. This is the commitment of all greats.