Is the Price of Success Worth the Cost? | Simon Sinek

1 Jul 2025 · 0 min

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A short transcript excerpt from a recorded conversation between Simon Sinek and Jocko Willink about the personal costs of pursuing success and the motivations that justify those costs. Simon Sinek states that every action has a cost and asks whether it is worth it — "how badly do you want this?" — explaining he does not enjoy the process of writing books but endures it to share ideas because of a higher reason.

There's a cost for everything we do. Is this cost worth it? Which is, how badly do you want this? I don't enjoy writing books. I enjoy moments of it. But as a whole process, it works to all of my weaknesses. And the reason I do it is not for the joy of writing. I write the books that I write because I get to the point where I have an idea set that I need to share, and I put up with it for that one year or two years, however long it takes me.
To write the book.
And I put up with it because there's a higher reason to.
People ask me sometimes, you must have had a really compelling reason to want to be a seal. And I said, well, I just wanted to be a part of the group. My motivation was not to be a seal, although this sounds very strange. My motivation was to be a part of the group, a part of the brotherhood. I saw those guys and I said, I want to serve with those guys, right? And I'm willing to do what it takes to get there. I was able to tap into grit to get through that because I saw a community and a brotherhood that I wanted to be a part of, and I was willing to pay the price of admission. You saw a message that you needed to get out, and you were willing to pay the price of admission to get there.