Personal success is defined by an individual in his/her own manner.  Some want overwhelming financial prosperity while others look to quiet family comforts.  Some want to travel the world while others want a large home, garden, and car.  Some want international business success while others simply want flexibility to work or not work.  Some want spiritual achievement while others define spirituality very differently.  To nearly all, it is preached that one must sacrifice in order to achieve what one wants most in life.  Is this true?  I would say yes but what you must understand the nature of sacrifice and then decide, is it really a sacrifice at all?  This line of thinking is a key component of a philosophical framework called “Objectivism”, developed by Ayn Rand.  With such titles as “The Virtue of Selfishness”, you can imagine the controversy.  Most religious people, me being a Christian, would claim this to be false and pose arguments to the contrary, the selfishness is wrong and sacrifice is the key.  When you strip away the semantics of modern language and build the proper context to Christian sacrifice, the philosophies begin to align.  I’m sure any hardcore objectivist would beg to differ, which is fine, this is simply how my understanding has developed.

In “The FountainHead”, Ayn Rand makes a statement that I find valuable in this discussion. (Emphasis added)

Is sacrifice a virtue? Can a man sacrifice his integrity? His honor? His freedom? His ideal? His convictions? The honesty of his feelings? The independence of his thought? But these are a man’s supreme possessions.  Anything he gives up for them is not a sacrifice but an easy bargain.  They, however, are above sacrificing to any cause or consideration whatsoever.

I have pondered this for some time and have come to the conclusion that even most Christians would agree with that statement.  Sacrificing one’s integrity, convictions, etc. would be against the intent and idea of sacrifice.   I love the statement that anything one gives up for these values is not a sacrifice but an easy bargain.  Compare it to this obvious scenario:  If I sacrifice $10 by giving it to you, knowing you will give me $20 in return, is it a sacrifice?   One gives and “sacrifices” for one’s ideals in order to enhance them, to keep them, to live by them and the return is much greater than the sacrifice (assuming you value your ideals, or let’s just say your ideals are what you value most in life, whatever they are).

The key difference in definition, for many, may simply be timing.  Sacrifice to some is the idea of giving up what you want today for what you want of greater value sometime in the future.  This may be a form of short-term sacrifice but once the item of greater value comes, you will have sacrificed nothing as you now stand with more than you started with.  The great teaching challenge of many religious credos is getting individuals to give up instant gratification for future glory and reward of much greater value.  It is to “sacrifice” in the immediate future.  The ideas of objectivism simply remove the issue of timing and state: Look at what you want most and do that, no matter how long it takes.    Looking at both of these statements creates a foundation for successful achievement.  What do you want most in life?  Professionally? Personally?  Now working on achieving it, no matter how long it takes, no matter what you must give up today in order to obtain it tomorrow (that is all but the ‘un-sacrifice-ables’ in your life, however they are defined).

Many Christians and religious individuals may take the idea of self-sacrifice to the extreme that Rand shares as a danger, that of sacrificing your integrity, convictions, honor and more for the “good of society”, for the good of the collective, the community.  This goes beyond the scope even of properly understood Christianity.  Even Jesus Christ himself would not sacrifice his integrity and conviction for the good of mankind.  What “good” would that have done anyhow? It would have gone counter to his purpose and goal.  That’s the peculiarity of many religions, Christianity included, and the understanding of sacrifice.  It doesn’t make logical sense even within their own doctrines to sacrifice to that degree or definition.  It also reveals the shortcomings of collectivism but that will be left for another discussion.

With this understanding of sacrifice and taking necessary action for success, I must say it is much easier to think about when you use Rand’s words:

Achieving personal success is simply a matter of making “easy bargains”…

Tags: Ayn Rand, collectivism, sacrifice, Success