When Did Noah Build the Ark (And The Benefits of Sacrifice)
By: Ankesh Kothari- Robert Redford in SpyGames.
1. The Benefits of Sacrifice
Sacrifice is a 9 letter word that has a negative connotation. People hear sacrifice and they cringe. But there have been very few people who have succeeded without sacrificing.
So lets turn sacrifice’s negative connotation upside down on its head and come up with a positive definition.
“Sacrifice = giving up a thing of less value to gain a thing of higher value.” – Paul Lemberg
Most people are unwilling to sacrifice. They don’t want to pay in advance. They don’t want to move out of their comfort zones and take risks.
But to succeed, you’ve got to sacrifice and put in the work “before” it is needed. You’ve got to dig the well before you get thirsty.
2. Cows vs Humans
Did you know that calves (baby cows) start walking within 2-4 hours of their birth?
Most people are surprised to learn that cows start walking so soon after birth while humans take 8-9-10 months to start walking after birth!
Humans are the only mammals that remain at the mercy of others for such a long time after birth.
But how can that be if we humans are the smartest mammals in the world?
The Human Sacrifice for Smartness
Because our cerebrums are bigger, we have to be pushed out and given birth “before” we have fully grown and can protect ourselves.
But because of these same bigger cerebrums, we humans grow on to be smarter than any other animal.
We gave up early protection for future progress!
3. The Marshmallow Experiment
In 1960, Walter Mischel of Stanford University conducts a long term behavioral experiment on pre-school kids. He brings the kids one by one in a boring little plain room and gives them a choice:
“You can have this marshmallow right now. But if you wait while I run an errand, you can have two marshmallows when I get back.” And then Walter leaves the room for 20 minutes.
Do you know how tormenting it is for energy filled kids to sit in a dull room with nothing to do but a marshmallow in sight? Some kids grab the marshmallow as soon as Walter is out of the room. Some last for a few minutes before giving in to boredom and temptation. But a few kids are determined to wait it out. They cover their eyes. They sing to themselves. They play with their imaginary friends. Some even try to fall asleep.
When Walter comes back in, he dutifully gives 2 marshmallows to these kids. But the experiment doesn’t end there. Walter then waits patiently till these kids hit high school. And he then goes back to continue his experiment.
He surveys the children’s parents and teachers. And finds that the four-year-olds who had the fortitude to hold out for the second marshmallow grew up to be better adjusted, more popular, confident and dependable teenagers. On the other hand, the kids who had given in to temptation were more likely to be lonely, irritable, shied away from challenges and easily buckled under stress.
When the students in the two groups took the Scholastic Aptitude Test, the kids who didn’t go for instant gratification scored an average of 210 points higher too!
Kids who gave up instant gratification did better in the future!
4. Leveraging a Well
Ram & Shyam are two entrepreneurs both living in a town where the nearest well is 10 miles away.
Ram sees an opportunity. And charges people to get their water for them. He starts earning money from day 1.
Shyam sees an opportunity too. But he doesn’t do what Ram does. And doesn’t spend time going back and forth everyday. Instead, he sacrifices money that can be earned today to build a pipeline. When the pipeline is built, Ram is out of business.
Action Summary:
- Don’t go for instant gratification. Give up things of little value today to achieve your big goals tomorrow.
- Surefire way to become successful is to pay in advance.
- Think pipeline. Create systems.
###
Cows may not be as smart as us humans. But did you know that they have a sixth sense that we lack? Yes its true. Cows can predict when its going to rain. They do this by detecting falling atmospheric pressure (falling pressure affects their digestive system). Before rain storms, they will start finding safe shelters.
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wow, what a great post. I knew about an experiment, where somebody asked a kid to chose between on coin now or two tomorrow, and most wanted the coin today. People are not that different from kids, I think. But definately something to think about here.
Thanks Britt for the comment.
Actually as we grow older, we become worse at delaying gratification. An experiment similar to the marshmallow one has been conducted on folks of various different ages. And it showed that kids were better at delaying gratification than adults.
(I didn’t write about it in the post above because it didn’t add anything new to the post.)
Ankesh, as usual, a brilliant and thought provoking post. Would be glad to know how you source such awesome pieces of information
And yes, you have got my thumbs up on StumbleUpon.
Regards,
Shinil.
Thanks Shinil for your kind words and the stumble upon vote! Much appreciated!
I loved the way sacrifice was turned into a positive: “Sacrifice = giving up a thing of less value to gain a thing of higher value.” – Paul Lemberg
In our house, we write favorite quotes on the walls (my wife’s a calligrapher). This one’s going in my office!
Thanks,
Rod
Hey cool – didn’t know your wife is a calligrapher.
Thanks Rod for the comment.
You know, I’d never thought about humans being the only mammals that rely on others for so long. Obvious but something that’s easy to forget!
Great post on the value of sacrificing for the long-term. Most good entrepreneurial projects run at a loss before they reach a tipping point
Thanks Skellie.
We humans are conditioned to love our babies even if they look ugly and do nothing but poop and cry all day long. Yes, its a very hard-to-break emotional bond that nature has built-in in us humans.
But I stopped saying it because every time I bring out the point, I get kicked in the shins by some new mom :p
I really enjoyed this post, thank you.
My question is: where does Shyam get the money and know-how from to build the pipeline?
Thanks David for asking an excellent question.
Ram-and-Shyam is an analogy. And every analogy breaks down if stretched too far.
Here is my not-so-demotivating response. Every one who trains himself to think “systems” can find ingenious ways of coming up with the money and the know-how and getting things done. Its actually the way of thinking that is of importance.
Biggest case in point: J. P. Morgan. Was the king of the financial world in US in his time. Saved US from the brink of disaster twice. People called him the most powerful man of his era – more powerful than kings and presidents. He played a big role in the formation of US Steel. And G.E. 2 mega-huge companies worth billions of dollars even in his time.
But when he died, people were shocked. He didn’t own a few hundred million to a billion dollars as people had thought. He only had a net worth of some 80 million dollars. (Which is a lot for his era too – but didn’t make him the richest person by far. Yet – he was the most powerful.)
(My fav J. P. Morgan story is of him locking a bunch of bankers in a room until they all agreed to come up with a rescue package for banks that were failing after a devastating earth quake in San Fransisco in 1906 – before the formation of the federal bank.)
J. P. Morgan found ways of achieving things without money. He “leveraged” other peoples money and knowledge and effort to get things done. Where he just acted as a catalyst.
Shyam could have gotten the money by borrowing. By being successful in his past ventures and saving part of the profits. By marrying well. By selling stock. 101 ways to come up with money.
Great post Ankesh. I love your definition of sacrifice! I might change it slightly though.
The children in the experiment were told that they *would* get 2 marshmallows if they waited. It was guaranteed.
In our world, there’s no guarantee of what we will get. Sacrifice to me, is giving up something of less value for the chance of gaining something of higher value.
(One exception I can think of is investing and saving. That’s somewhat guaranteed, and putting away the money now is definitely a sacrifice, but it does pay off like in your story!
)
Good catch Michael. There are no guarantees in life.
And thats why, the art of risk management is essential for entrepreneurs.
May be I’ll write about it in a post soon…
You hit the nail on the head with your definition of sacrifice. People mostly think sacrifice involves doing what you don’t want to do. But in reality, it is the exact opposite. People always do what they want to do most. They always have a choice and they make the one they want.
Thanks Vimoh for your insightful comments!
Ankesh, dude you have the gift of perspective. You are able to see beyond the obvious and share your insight(s) with the rest of the world.
Keep it going!!!
Thanks Yorick for your kind words of encouragement! I love it!!
Ankesh,
I admire the way you keep up with consistent posts with just exemplification for the chosen topic.
I completely agree that sacrifice is a must for achieving of one’s goals. This has been preached with phrases like “No pain. No gain” and others that emphasise the necessity of a vision.
But the three examples are simply brilliant and comprehensive.
Good going.
Thanks Lavin
And when you write a book I will queue up for it!!!
Another gem!
My mind boggles at how you link these facts together!
Aww – thanks Ahalya!
Love the praise coming from you – as you are a superb writer yourself!
great motivation, with simple yet good examples.
*gives you an imagery pat on the back, ‘cos you deserve one.
Thanks Mokokoma for the pat on the back
:)
Came across your blog for the first time. I love your writing voice and the way you approach “real life” topics.
Great blog. I added it to my RSS. I will be back
Shamelle
Thanks Shamelle for adding the blog to your RSS feed reader!
Appreciate it a lot.
Hope all the future posts blow your expectations away too!
Hi
I too find the post interesting, more so when I see the range of thought it triggers. May I add a bit to it?
Like once I listened to a bit of advise from a person respectable: Save money and good deeds. And since then I had been thinking about it. Say, for instance, saving good deeds. The good deed done like helping does not mean the person helped would give it back instantly in a sense of a quid-pro-quo. People would unexpectedly come to a person who has good deeds in his savings. A great speaker I have listened coined a phrase for this: a spiritual balance.
Thanks. Your post is inspiring, to say the least.
Thanks for the excellent comment!
I actually am a believer of karma. What you sow is what you reap. And so – your point about saving good deeds is very insightful to me.
Had heard your session at the barcamp on blog marketing.. haven’t gotten around to doing much of that, but quite liked your story telling – then, as well as here!
Keep up!
Thanks Ankur for your kind words
Hope you have great success with your life streaming website.
Wont the smarter man do something like this:
Pay few bucks for one person to bring the water and share profits with him. In the mean time build the pipeline. So you get better cash-flows. Sacrifice is heroic and rewarding but if there is way to win and still keep the queen I will go for it!
Thanks Sushrut.
1.
“The risk of inaccuracy is the price of simplicity.”
– Roy H. Williams
Instead of belabouring the Ram & Shyam analogy, please just take the lesson it teaches. I should stress – Ram & Shyam analogy is not true as far as I know.
2.
Anyways… when a task / project / business idea doesn’t allow for division of labour, its very hard to find some one to do all the work and then also share the profits. Why would they share the profits at all? (unless you create artificial monopoly by legal maneuvering or by bullying.)
3.
The smartest person wouldn’t create a pipeline at all. The smartest person would buy an option for the land surrounding the well. And make it impossible for folks to access the well – without paying him a toll. You want to draw water with buckets? Pay a toll. You want to build a pipeline? Pay a licensing fee + a percentage of profits.
But complicating the analogy with such examples wouldn’t get the important message across. Which is: think long term. Think systems.
Awesome post! I never knew the reason why humans are born “early” before. As always, good advice and superb writing.
When I read Ayn Rand I discovered why sacrifice always seemed so wrong to me. Her definition is that sacrifice is giving up a GREATER value for a LESSER one. Just the reverse of what your Paul Lemberg wrote.
Giving up a lesser value for a greater one is NOT sacrifice, it is calculated risk. It is smart.
Sacrifice gets a bad rap because it doesn’t make economic or social sense. In fact, sacrifice always bothered me because it always seemed so wasteful. The people who “sacrificed” always got the short end of the proverbial stick.
It is not a waste to let go of something that has less value, just as it is not a waste (nor is it a sacrifice) to protect something of higher value. It is not a sacrifice to put your loved one’s well being before your own. It is not a sacrifice to work hard before you see tangible results.
I applaud your intent here with getting people to recognize that a perceived short-term hardship or restraint can lead to much larger benefits in the long run, but puh-leez don’t keep perpetuating the myth of the nobel sacrifice.
Even the dictionary uses the definition as “to give up something at a loss”. Why would I EVER want to do that or think that it was nobel?
Ha ha, dang spell checker…should have said “noble” not “nobel” – no prize here!
Paul Lemberg got it wrong — Giving up something lesser to gain something greater is not sacrifice; it’s capitalism. If I give up a dollar to get ten, that’s not sacrifice. That’s profit.
In the Ram and Shyam story, if Ram had built the pipeline, he would have been sacrificing his payment for water at the well-head. Shyam didn’t sacrifice a thing. He wasn’t included in the original money-making scheme. He just put Ram out of business. But what did he gain from putting Ram out of business? That is never explained.
True sacrifce is giving up something of present value not knowing whether you WILL gain a future (not present) reward.
Sacrifices are always for bigger rewards, may be imaginary, but never without expectation…Even a person who dont expect anything,would expect that people know that he is not expecting anything..In turn an expectation of name and fame..
Some may expect to go to heaven…small or big expectations are always there…