essay - GMAT: Issue 40

It is difficult for people to achieve professional success without sacrificing important aspects of a fulfilling personal life.

Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion stated above. Support your views with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

Answer:
I, in general, agree with the remark that a certain amount of personal sacrifice is required to achieve success in the professional life. Surely, not-so-hard achievements can be easily attained without any sacrifices. However, for a great success or an unprecedented achievement, I have reached this conclusion by general deduction and personal observations and experiences.

My principle says that if you want something difficult to achieve, you need to sacrifice something commensurate with what you want. I lately read an article about Codolesa Rice, who is the secretary of state of the United States of America, a young black brilliantly smart woman, which says that she pitched in very hard to achieve the success studying in schools twice as much as others. Besides, we can easily observe that all people who are known for great achievements in history actually sacrificed something, and thereby they spent their lives completely different from others. Edison, an inventor of an electricity bulb, achieved his success saying 99 percent of perspiration is important.

My personal experience also supports the remark. When I achieved something such as winning a big deal in business, I always sacrificed a part of my personal life. I refrained myself from drinking alcohol or going out with my friends. I shortened my sleeping time instead to devote in study. And, I'm sure that I will in the future sacrifice something to achieve my targets. It's because I know that without the sense of sacrifice people cannot realize their dreams at all.

At the same time, we don't need to sacrifice what we can do without sacrificing. I mean, we don't necessarily need to leave our families behind in order to make success in professional lives. We don't need to give up our important activities such as exercising or volunteering at any cases. We can see all the President of the United States of America had and have their families and spent a certain amount of time with them. We can see many competent professionals have their hobbies or their volunteer work. Although a great power comes with a great responsibility, it's not necessarily the case that we always give up our important activities in order to achieve great successes.

To sum up, I generally agree with the claim that professional success requires personal sacrifice, although there are exceptions that we can enjoy both of them at the same time.