Welcome to Blank Pages, the podcast, a podcast for people who appreciate the new beginnings of a clean slate, but strive for the courage, willingness, curiosity and creativity available only on the blank pages of new possibilities.

It's the potential to move beyond and move forward where people are willing to make new decisions from fresh perspectives and are ready to write in a much better way.

The world is waiting and nothing listens better than a blank piece of paper.

So, hello.

Hello, how are you?

How are things going in your world?

I hope they're going really, really well.

I'm excited about today's episode.

Just building on what I'm doing within the community that I just launched.

And man, we're covering some really, really good things that have to do with how we show up in the world, who we are, how we show up.

And mostly that's focusing on learning to lead yourself.

Self leadership, but learning leadership.

So anyways, it's, it's going really, really well and I'm pretty pumped up to share with you just a piece of, of what we've been talking about, just a little part of it.

And it's around sacrifice.

So I'm going to talk today about sacrifice.

I just got off a, just watching a webinar and, and what was really cool was the people that were on there, they just shared so much good stuff.

I like when you see a webinar where the community is involved.

Once again, I'm just, I even launched the community.

But just seeing community involved in how community as they're listening to someone, everything that comes out of the conversation isn't just from the person who's talking about it.

So it's kind of like I'm doing this podcast right now.

I'm going to share about sacrifice, you know, but with the community where I did this talk with my group even last night around Sacrifice, there's feedback at the end and people get to talk and they get to add value into what it is that we're talking about.

So.

And I think there's nothing better than again, the input of others into what it is that you're bringing out into the world.

And when you can solve problems together, man, that makes life so, so, so much better.

So if you are listening to this podcast, whatever app you' if it's Apple Podcast or Spotify Podcasts, if it's Amazon Music, if it is Odyssey or Audacity, I would love it if you would go ahead and follow the show.

Not just listen to it today, but follow the show rate and review the show.

That would be great.

Share it with some of your friends.

Also, the newsletter that we are picking back up again, which will be, it's being rebranded under just my name, Tim Pecoro.

You will see all things that I'm doing with the community that I'm launching with blank pages, podcasts, and then even things that I do with my company.

So it's just something I've done over 20 plus years.

It's an evolution and ultimately where I am in my life work, my legacy work.

And so anyways, I would love for you to sign up for that newsletter and follow what's going on.

It's not going to be a newsletter that just sends you constantly things, excuse me, asking you to buy this and buy that.

And no, I'm not into all that.

I like to give you things that are useful and helpful and that you can put to work in your life, share them with other people and that ultimately they have some shelf life, they have some longevity to them.

I do not like trendy, disposable stuff.

So I'm just going to go ahead and say that to you.

So I'm sitting here, I got a fresh cup of coffee in my hand.

I just made a fresh press, a French press, and I think I did.

What did I do?

Oh, it's Sumatra, which is my.

One of my favorite blends of coffee is Sumatra.

I love it.

Another one I've been trying recently is Milano Luna.

Just listen to that.

Milano Luna.

Milano Luna, right?

Do you feel it?

Do you feel that?

So anyways, I'm loving my coffee and I'm going to jump into this topic and it's around sacrifice.

And I just want to go ahead and tell you there are things you should sacrifice for and there are things you should not sacrifice for.

I'm just going to go ahead and say that.

Now the question is, what are you sacrificing for?

And I think you don't sacrifice your values.

You don't sacrifice your vision, you don't sacrifice principles.

Okay?

That's not what you do.

And you don't sacrifice people.

What you do is you have to make decisions around your values.

Principles, right, vision.

And then who are you going to include?

What people are you going to be in it?

But when it comes to those times, if you're going to go do these things, if you're going to have vision and values and you're trying to accomplish some things and you have principles and you're going to, you have to involve other people.

And in order to involve people, to be successful, you're going to have to learn to sacrifice.

And that's what it's all about is understanding the sacrifice, the nature of sacrifice, the necessity of sacrifice, the benefits and the rewards of sacrifice, and then embracing that practice of sacrifice.

So I'm going to go over that with you and then also just mitigating the risk of sacrifice.

So that's what we're going to do.

We're going to go the true nature of sacrifice, the necessity of sacrifice, the benefits and rewards of sacrifice, and embracing sacrifice, but also mitigating some of those risks.

Okay, so what I want to do is just get into exploring why sacrifice is essential and how to approach it wisely.

Okay.

And there's some incredible benefits, I promise you, that can bring that sacrifice can bring into your life and into the lives of others.

All right, so that's a big deal.

So here's some thoughts that I have on the true nature of sacrifice.

Because sacrifice is often it's misunderstood as something that's painful or detrimental.

However, true sacrifice is not about keeping score or causing harm to oneself.

It doesn't have to be injurious.

Instead, it's about prioritizing a greater good over immediate personal gain.

Let me say that again.

Sacrifice, it's mostly about prioritizing a greater good over immediate personal gain.

So you're going to subjugate your own personal gain when you sacrifice so that you can go for a greater good that would include others.

That's basically the bottom line.

So when we sacrifice, we're making a conscious choice.

That's what we're doing.

A conscious choice to invest in a long term success and the betterment of everyone else that's involved.

That's what it's all about.

So that is a true nature of sacrifice.

That is a true nature of sacrifice and definition that I am wanting to provide to you to lay foundation for this conversation.

Okay, so as we jump into it, let me go to the necessity of sacrifice and I have some notes here.

So the necessity of sacrifice.

Sacrifice rarely comes.

Okay, with.

Sorry.

Success rarely comes without sacrifice.

So if you want to be successful, you're.

It's very rare that you're going to see it unless there's some sort of sacrifice there.

If you want to be successful in career advancement, you may have to make the sacrifice of your time to do some extra studying, some extra work in order to see yourself advance.

Right.

That's an example.

Just a simple thing, but that's on the personal side, but mostly.

Okay, that you have to understand that if you're going to succeed with others it's going to definitely require sacrifice.

So many of the most accomplished individuals in history have made significant sacrifices to achieve their goals.

Right?

So if you think about an entrepreneur, entrepreneurs often sacrifice their leisure time.

I'm an entrepreneur.

I understand that when most people are out there goofing off and look and I know a lot of entrepreneurs that they just want to make mad money and then go play all the time.

I, even if I make mad money, I don't want to just play all the time.

I still want to have purpose.

I want to have, I want to build things.

I want to, I want to unlock other people.

I don't want to, I don't want to impress people with my stuff and my things and I don't want to have to worry about how fancy this is.

And fancy that is if that's your thing and that's what you do and you sacrifice your time and leisure to get all those things.

Wonderful.

My sacrifice around values are very different.

No matter how much I earn or how much I make, my goal goal is still to bring other people to another level, not just for my own personal gain.

So when I'm sacrificing my leisure time in short term financial things and fun and cool and fun stuff, you know, I'm doing that, you know, to build a business, I'm doing it to build a value in something.

So all of that stuff that I'm looking to do, you know, I want to do it, I'm going to sacrifice in order to get there.

I'm going to go ahead and let go of a shorter term financial stability or short term financial wins or things that I can get my hands on just because I can.

Because I would prefer to build the business.

Now let's think about athletes.

Athletes will sacrifice social activities and they push their bodies to the limit, right?

To excel in their sport.

Look what they do, especially if they're in a team sport, they work, they do extra hours.

If it's a quarterback and a receiver, they will do in the off season.

They will get together, they will do special camps, they will, they will go away, they, they will work together, they will train running routes, they will get to where it's second nature from the quarterback's hand to the receiver's hand.

The quarterback can release the ball before the receiver as he's running his route, before he even breaks into his route and turns that ball is on the way.

So when he does break and he turns, it's right there.

And they learn to build a cadence, they learn to build a connection they learn to really go deeper into the craft that they have because that's not only going to elevate their individual game, but they work together in tandem.

And that all ultimately affects the team and the ultimate success for the team because they have a bigger vision, bigger purpose.

Therefore, they will sacrifice when everybody else is playing and doing everything else, they will sacrifice that to push their bodies and do more.

They'll work on their mind, they'll work on understanding the game, their IQ for the sport, et cetera.

How about parents?

You know, I'm a parent, and if you're listening and you're a parent, you probably could raise your hand and say the same thing.

That parents will sacrifice personal pursuits to provide for and nurture their children.

So there are, I know, parents that say, well, you can have both, maybe you can, but even if you can have both, I don't want to drag my kids into things and just say, because I can, or I have the ability to just do it again.

Nothing beats the time to say, look, no vacation, no travel anywhere is worth being able to sit down and just read a book with your kid, you know, so there are certain things you may want to pursue.

You may want to, you know, not only do you have one business, you want to start another business.

All that.

Listen, you can lose your own children, you can lose the relationships in your life because you have these pursuits that you're doing, or you can have a good life with them, you can have a decent life with your kids, and you can have a decent life with your spouse or whoever you know you're doing life with.

But do you have the best of that life?

And that's one of the biggest lessons that I think I have learned over the past 10 years, is that in all my pursuits, my pursuits can make me clouded in my judgment and my thinking, and then ultimately because of it, that I don't get the best of what I have in my life and what I already have.

Instead, you find yourself trying to substitute or trying to fill voids and gaps because you don't understand the necessity of sacrifice and what you have to do.

And because you don't recognize it, you end up with these voids.

You end up feeling like something is missing or something is broken.

And therefore you try to find ways to satisfy that.

And most of the time, what you need to satisfy what's missing or broken is already right there in front you.

So these examples of how to sacrifice, it's fundamental to or a fundamental part of achieving greatness, right?

That's the Whole point, I want to have greatness in my life.

I want mastery over the things that I do in my own life.

But I want to make sure they make an impact.

I want them to be not only just an impact, I want them to be a positive impact.

I hear people talk about, oh, then you know, I'm going to make an impact.

Well, what type of impact?

And who benefits from that impact?

Not just who you say could benefit, who really benefits and how do you know?

So that's important for you to make sure that you understand.

Like if I use the athlete or the parent, parent with the kids, athlete with the sport, entrepreneur with the business, you have to think about what it is.

Ultimately the impact is you're trying to get to.

And if you're including others, that they are on the.

They're.

They're written into that story.

They're in that picture too.

It's not just a subjective thing that, that you are the mastermind over and you alone, and that you are the.

That takes it where it's going to go without anyone else's participation or involvement.

Now, I do believe that we are supposed to live our best life and we can live our best life.

But my best life, when I have other people in my life, it also includes others.

So if it's a best life all by yourself, then you need to make it clear to everyone else that you're going to do what you're going to do regardless, and that's all you're going to do.

But if you want to go somewhere and you want other people to be in your life, you have to do the objective right things, not the subjective right things.

You have to understand sacrifice is inclusive of them and it's not excluding them.

And then they're the ones that get sacrificed or they're the thing that gets sacrificed.

So you have to, you have to put that in perspective.

So what are the benefits and rewards of sacrifice?

Well, the rewards of a meaningful sacrifice, they can, I believe they can be really profound.

So I'm going to give you five.

So the first one is sacrifice can build character and resilience and discipline.

So that's a personal growth thing.

So when you understand true sacrifice, I mean, you really get to the point where you could say, look, I am, I am literally able to grow in my life.

My personal growth is a benefactor because it builds character and resilience and discipline.

What's the second thing?

Well, there's a big thing.

Everyone talks about the why and the purpose.

And I literally was listening to folks talk about how, why takes you to what and what takes you to how.

And I mean, that's true.

Simon Sinek did a great job.

Sinek, in his book, you know, start with why Purpose.

It's big time, you know, when it comes to, I think, as a believer, if you're a Christian, what is the why behind it?

Do you know why you believe what you believe?

So when you understand the benefits or if you, once you understand sacrifice and the meaning of sacrifice, there's a benefit and reward of personal growth.

But the second one is clarity of purpose because it helps you to prioritize what truly matters in your life.

When you get that clear, sacrifice.

And you know who's involved and what's the impact and what's the purpose.

Now your prioritization changes, you change your priorities.

And of course you may have people say, well, I'm not a priority in your life.

And listen, everybody cannot be a priority in your life.

Everything cannot be a priority in your life.

What you can do is you can put them into priority order.

And it's unfortunate because, listen, I'm not everybody's priority.

And if someone wants to make me their priority, it doesn't mean that I want to be their priority.

You've got to.

And I've got to get better at understanding what it is we say yes to, what it is we say no to.

Because when I say yes, that means I'm sacrificing something.

When I say no, that means I'm sacrificing something.

So there's a sacrifice involved.

And I'm going to go ahead and tell you this.

Someone is always going to be unhappy.

It's just going to happen.

Someone's going to feel like they're on the wrong side of a sacrifice.

Unless, unless you have that alignment.

The third is when you, when you truly understand the meaning or what meaningful sacrifice is and what it looks like, you deepen your relationships.

Sacrificing for others strengthens bonds and it'll build trust.

So when you're in the relationship that you're supposed to be in and you're working and walking alongside the people that you're supposed to be walking with, and then you are building that healthy relationship and connecting with them, you can really strengthen the bonds with a group.

I talked to last night.

You know, we just experienced Hurricane Helene in our area.

And so there are 50 foot, 60 foot trees, 70 foot trees that came down.

And the root bed that you saw when it came up was so shallow, shallow because the roots went down some, but out there were Some trees that didn't even have a root system that went 10ft deep.

And then 110 mile an hour wind's going to push a tree over.

Like that beautiful, majestic, gorgeous looking tree that was bearing fruit but now has come down because the roots just aren't deep.

And that's because the sacrificing of time or the compacted soil did not allow for a true relationship between the root of the tree and the ground that it was attached to.

That's what happens in relationships.

You don't deepen the relationship because there's a failure for sacrificing or the proper way to be able to do sacrifice well together.

So number four that I want to give you is you end up with long term success.

So short term sacrifices often lead to greater long term achievements.

So when you on the short term are sacrificing things that are immediate, things that can give you just a quick fix for the time, it's the easy money, it's the easy way out, it's the makes me feel good right now kind of a thing.

If you sacrifice that delay that gratification, it's amazing what it can produce for you in the future.

And then the fifth one is the sense of fulfillment.

Man, this is so rich.

So knowing you've contributed to something larger than yourself brings really deep satisfaction when you've given to something that's bigger than you and investing in, I mean not remember back to investing in the right things, not just anything.

So the benefits and rewards of sacrifice are first, personal growth.

Right.

Second, clarity of purpose.

Third is deeper relationships.

Fourth is long term success.

And the fifth one is a sense of fulfillment.

So let's talk about embracing now this practice of sacrifice because there's no point of talking about if you're not going to grab ahold of it.

Now I really want you to incorporate sacrifice into your life in an effective manner.

So here's one of the ways that you can do it right.

It's, it's a simple thing.

You want to, number one, identify your values.

You want to un understand what matters to you most.

Like what is the thing that matters most to you?

Understand it because you want to know, you know why it is that you are going to sacrifice.

Get a grip around it, understand it.

So that way you can say this matters most to me and therefore I can identify through this as my value, I know what is what I'm sacrificing for.

In other words, I know what I say yes to and I know what I say no to.

So that way I can do the thing that matters most.

It's going to help you with your priorities, right?

The second is set clear goals, know what you're working toward.

So when you're making the sacrifice, you understand, I'm working toward this goal.

Therefore, and according to my values, I'm doing this and there's a goal.

And so I know I'm looking for that benefit, I'm looking for that reward.

I'm looking for that personal growth, that clarity of purpose, the deeper relationship, the long term success, the sense of fulfillment.

The third is start small.

When it comes to sacrifices, if you're not one that sacrifice, maybe you're stubborn, maybe you don't, you know, excuse me, you're, maybe you're just one of those people that says, man, I don't, I don't sacrifice for nothing.

I don't want to give up.

I'm a little selfish, okay?

Everybody's selfish at times.

You want to begin with little sacrifices so you can build a habit, Little tiny things.

Give up a little bit of your time.

You know, somebody says, hey, can you sacrifice watching some of the game and then go help your mom rake her leaves?

Right?

So, so sacrifice a little bit of the game and then go help your mom rake your leaves.

And that's what you do a little bit.

And after a while, trust me, you'll do that and you'll say, you know what, I can DVR the game, I don't have to watch it live.

I'll just tell my friends not to tell me what the score is because I want to spend time with my mom, I want to do things with my mom, I want to help my mom.

And I know it sounds crazy, but listen, we're in such a selfish world.

It's all people think about is me, me, me, my, my, my, Give me, give me, give me, me this, my that, my entitlement, my rights.

This is where we are.

This is the world we're in.

And we believe every tiny little thing is a sacrifice.

And it's because we don't really know what our values are.

People talk about values, but they can't define them.

What are your values?

Not what are the things that you just think, what are they?

Another way that can help you embrace sacrifices is stay focused.

So remember the bigger picture.

When you're tempted to give up, there's going to be times when you're, you're working on something and you just want to give up.

You don't want to be patient, you want us, you don't want to Slow down.

You wish that person would go a little quicker.

You're trying to get this thing done and you have to sacrifice your speed.

Well, that's what you do.

If you, if you want to go fast, go by yourself.

But if you want to go far, you're going to take someone with you.

It's going to take time.

Then you have to slow down.

And here's the thing about that is when I slow down, here's what I found out.

I get more flow, I get smoother, I build a great momentum, I have a good connection, I collaborate better.

All these things happen and eventually that smooth turns to fast and I can get places quicker because we have flow.

That's a whole nother thing.

And then the fifth one is to embrace that sacrifice is make sure you celebrate your progress, acknowledge the positive changes that are resulting from sacrifice.

So when you see that, like you're sacrificing, I don't know, maybe you love to eat dessert and you want to change your body.

So you stop eating the dessert and then you celebrate and you say, wow, look at these.

I'm acknowledging the positive changes in my body.

My clothes fit a little better, right?

So then maybe what you do is you reward yourself and you go, I'm going to buy a new shirt, okay?

And it's better than buying the shirt that goes, I have to buy this shirt, I'm going to buy a new shirt, but I need to go up a size because I'm trying to hide things, right?

Like there's, you know, some rewarding myself, right?

To look better, I need to take care, you know.

But that's the wrong type of reward.

You're rewarding, not good behavior.

What you want to do is if your goal is to be healthier and to trim down some and change your body, then it's going to require some sacrifices.

It's going to be hard work.

It's going to be watching what you eat, certain things that you have to do, and then from there you're able to reward yourself.

And listen, it doesn't have to be massive, just little, little changes.

So being a person who embraces sacrifice, how can I put?

It's risky.

Okay, so sacrifice is powerful, but it's important that you approach it wisely.

Okay?

I mean, not to mention that there are people who understand that you're sacrificial and your servant minded and servant heart.

And you do that.

People can take advantage of that.

I understand that.

So I'm going to give you five things to work with that number one is Maintain balance.

Okay.

When you're sacrificing, ensure your sacrifices don't completely derail other important aspects of your life.

You know, so for instance, you know, I'm right now, I'm in a deep place of studying and it's helping me to grow because these growth things are areas I needed to have in my life.

And so I can't then at the same time, when my daughter wants to talk to me, be so into the thing that I'm learning and trying to grow with and I'm sacrificing other stuff in order to do because I want to grow and I'm sacrificing what I normally would do so I could grow.

But then when she wants to talk, just be careful that I'm not doing so much of that, that now I'm sacrificing this.

It's just.

Just be careful you're not derailing other aspects of your life.

Just maintain a balance, just a simple balance, and blend.

The second is set some boundaries.

Just be clear to set boundaries and know your limits and don't sacrifice your core values or your health.

So that's a big one.

Don't run the risk of sacrificing core values and your own health, mental health, physical health, just don't do it.

The third is make sure that you're reassessing regularly.

So periodically evaluate if your sacrifices are still aligned with your goals.

Do they line up?

Is this still that or is that still this?

You want to make sure that they're lined up.

The fourth is seek some support.

So you want to share your journey with some trusted friends.

Like, you know, I look at it as, you know, friends or mentors or if you have a coach or if you have someone that you're working with who can offer you their perspective on what's going on in your world, get that support.

And then the fifth one is, you want to practice some self care.

Remember that taking care of yourself enables you to better serve others.

So to mitigate that risk of sacrifice, maintain balance.

Number one, set boundaries.

Number two, reassess regularly.

That's number three.

Number four, seek support.

And number five, you want to practice self care.

So we talked about the true nature of sacrifice.

True nature of sacrifice.

You know, it's that thing.

We don't want to misunderstand it, but remember, it's about prioritizing at a great.

For prioritizing a greater good over immediate personal gain.

Say that to yourself over and over.

Greater good over immediate personal gain.

If you're on a team, greater good for the team.

Over immediate personal gain.

If it's a relationship with your spouse or your significant other.

Greater good, right?

Over immediate personal gain.

Sacrifice.

Stop trying, even if it's winning the argument.

Sacrifice greater good over immediate personal gain.

And then understand the necessities of sacrifice, right?

Everything has a need.

If you're an entrepreneur, there's going to be need for sacrifice.

If you're an athlete, need for sacrifice.

If you're a parent, there's a need for sacrifice.

Recognize there's benefits and rewards of sacrifice, right?

And then embrace the practice of sacrifice.

And then lastly, remember, mitigate.

Understand you have to mitigate risks.

We'll all run risks.

These will all be in the show notes.

So sacrifice.

Don't be afraid to do this.

Sacrifice is not being a martyr, okay?

It's doing things with a purpose and with value in mind.

It's a powerful tool for your personal growth and achieving meaningful success with other people.

When you embrace sacrifice wisely, you can unlock your full potential and make lasting, positive impact around the world that you live in.

How cool is that?

And remember, the greatest leaders and innovators in history understood this value.

And obviously the one I think of mostly is when I think of Jesus Christ, the sacrifice that he did, it was for us and with us, and it wasn't about injury.

And see, we don't need to keep these read receipts.

We don't need to keep score on sacrifice.

We need to understand why we do what we do and then also how we do it.

So as you cultivate this mindset of sacrifice, you'll, you'll.

You'll find yourself.

You're going to be better equipped to overcome challenges and you're going to be able to achieve your goals better.

And you're going to create more fulfillment and add to your life purpose.

Not take away from it.

Try it.

Think of something.

Think about what you could sacrifice with someone else.

Remember, don't keep score.

What are you willing to give up in order to go up with other people?

I want to thank you for listening to this episode today.

I hope that you'll put it into work.

I want you to keep.

Keep striving for the greatness through meaningful sacrifice.

The greatness that's afforded to you, to myself, and to those around us if we embrace higher principles, greater things, putting more value and emphasis on things that actually move the needle and change lives.

So until next time.

We'll talk soon.

Sa.