“Whenever you see a successful person, you only see the public glories, never the private sacrifices to reach them.”

Vaibhav Shah

10 years ago Guy Ritchie teamed up with Nike to make an ad for the 2008 World Cup that shows a local league soccer player making it to the big dance.  What I love about this ad is that it doesn’t show only the glitz and glamour, though it does show plenty, but it also shows the hard work, the effort, the sacrifices, the puking…  All the effort that went into making it to the “next level” is never seen by the fans in the stadium.

In today’s world everyone seems to covet the trappings and glories of those who are successful but very few understand or embrace the thousands of sacrifices it took someone to to get there.  

Ultimately I believe real success isn’t measured in public glories and in the spoils of victory.  Success is defined by the person you become, and who you impact by how you live your life.  For me achieving “success” and getting to the “next level” means digging deep and focusing on who I want to become and making that a priority over having comfort and ease in the here and now.  Those might never become “public glories” and I am perfectly fine with that.