What are you prepared to do?

In the movie The Untouchables Sean Connery's character has the best line of the entire film. Elliot Ness is trying to recruit him to help Ness send Al Capone to prison. Three times in the film Connery's character asks the question, "What are you prepared to do?" The final time he asked the question was just before he died after being gunned down by one of Capone's men.

He asks the question before agreeing to help Ness because he wants to know how far Ness is willing to go to put Capone away. Connery plays an Irish cop who isn't interested in being part of any half-hearted attempt to take on Capone's criminal empire. It's not until he is convinced that Ness is committed to doing whatever it takes that he agrees to join him in his effort.

The reason I enjoy this line so much is that it is a question that each of us must ask ourselves when we want to tackle something so big in our lives that there is a good chance we will fail. Too often we settle for living lives that lack adventure and substance. We settle for the mundane, the safe, the boring because we are afraid if we try to venture beyond that we will fail. How many people have wanted to start their own business but never found the courage to do so? How many wanted to further their education but didn't think they had what it took? How many wanted to have a rich, satisfying relationship with someone but was afraid of being hurt? Living our lives to the fullest requires risk, and many of us are afraid of risk.  It's only when we are willing to stretch ourselves that we can be the people we are called to be and experience all that life has to offer.

But as we think about doing that we need to pause and ask ourselves the question: What are we prepared to do? How far are we willing to do to realize our dreams? What are we willing to give up to gain what we want most out of life? John Maxwell says that we have to give up to go up. In other words, we have to be willing to sacrifice some things in order to achieve the things we want most. Jesus Christ challenged us to count the cost because there is always a cost to achieve the most out of life.

While sacrifice will be required, we must not sacrifice some things. Our integrity for one thing. Some people are willing to sacrifice their integrity in order to gain material things. They will lie, cheat, steal and do anything else to get what they want. That is too high a price to pay. So is sacrificing our families. How many people have thought they had it all only to look back to find out they had lost their family in the process? It's also not worth it to sacrifice our health in order to achieve the things we want in life. I think of the many famous performers whose lives were ruined by the drugs they used to keep performing. Certainly, we can never sacrifice our faith in our pursuit of whatever we want in life. Many have abandoned the faith of their childhood in order to live their dreams. If our dreams cause us to sacrifice our integrity, our families, our health and our faith those dreams will turn into nightmares. We will find we paid too high a price.

What are some of the things we will need to do in order to live a more fulfilling and meaningful life? If I may again quote John Maxwell, he often says that each of us has a choice. We can either pay now and play later, or we can play now and pay later. There is always a cost if we want to achieve more in life. We just have to decide when we want to pay it. He would say it's best to pay it early in life so as to be able to enjoy the fruits of your efforts later. I would agree.

This requires a dedicated focus on doing the things that will achieve what you want. While others are playing you are focused on doing the things necessary to achieve success in your chosen field. While others are going into debt to buy cars and homes they cannot afford, you are avoiding debt, living within your means, putting money into your retirement account and investments. If that sounds boring, just wait until your friends can't afford to retire while you have a few million in your retirement account. Then you can see who's bored. We can make similar comparisons about any area of life you want. When you focus on doing the right thing in those areas you may miss out on temporary pleasure at first, but you will reap the rewards of your discipline later.

It's very unlikely to will achieve the things you want most in life by accident. It will require dedicated focus on your part, a willingness to pay a price and a steadfast commitment to achieving your dreams. So, what are you prepared to do?