The Secret Meaning of Everything has a Price

Everything has a price. It’s just what you’re willing to pay for it.
-Anne Bishop

You might have heard this sentence- Everything has a Price written on books or the internet or said by your Maths teacher who has a secret interest in philosophy.

But have you ever wondered what the real meaning of this sentence is?

We know most commercial objects have a price, but how does everything have a price?

What about the free shirt I got on Buy One Get One offer? What about the free tutorials on YouTube that teaches me various skills? And what about the lovely time I spend with my spouse? They don’t charge any money.

Well, they are free, but they aren’t free. Forgive me; I know it’s getting confusing.

That’s why I chose to write this post where I will help you understand the meaning of everything has a price. And how you can benefit by applying this concept in your life.

Meaning of Everything Has a Price

To understand the true meaning, we must first understand what the term everything signifies here.

The term everything not only means the commercial products and services like clothes, gadgets, grocery, stationery, consulting, or digital marketing, but everything we do, feel, sense, achieve or have.

This includes success, happiness, peace of mind, health and fitness, money, sleep, enjoyment, relationships, growth and development, and everything you can think of.

And, all these things have a price which isn’t always money. Then what?

Well, according to the situation, the price can be different: effort, hard work, time, attention, consistency, maintaining habits, going through difficult situations, handling stress, suffering pain, etc.

Let’s make it more clear through some examples.

Let’s say you got success by landing your dream job. You didn’t invest any money for this, but still, the success was not free. How?

Because you had to put months of effort into developing the required skills. You had to gain various experiences, consistently work on your soft skills, build your resume, and prepare for the interview.

You put your time and hard work as a price for getting the job. Hence your success was not free.

In fact, every success comes at a price. You may see someone becoming successful overnight, earning millions within a day, or getting viral on social media and achieving fame.

But do you know how much effort they might have put in before landing in that situation? They may have worked years without any result to see an overnight success suddenly. No success is free.

Let’s take another example. Say you are happy with your life because you earn like Elon Musk and have a sweet spouse. You may argue that your happiness is free; it didn’t cost you any money.

That’s true, happiness is financially free, but there is a price.

You may had to put effort and time into your business and relationship, overcome challenges and suffer pain to get to the point where you earn fascinating money and enjoy a fulfilling relationship.

Similarly, you may be healthy and fit, but you had to discipline yourself to work out every day in the gym and eat fresh vegetables, not McDonald’s mouth-watering french fries. Hard work and discipline are the prices.

You may sleep peacefully nowadays, but you achieve this because you drain all your energy every day (that’s the price).

You may have got free YouTube tutorials that have helped you build valuable skills, but they show ads and cost your attention. Further development of any skill needs desire and regular efforts.

You may have a good life, but you achieved these by going through bad days.

Everything you have or accomplished has a cost you have paid, or are paying, or will pay. Nothing is free.

Everything you want in life has a price connected to it. There’s a price to pay if you want to make things better, a price to pay just for leaving things as they are, a price for everything.
-Harry Browne

How to Apply this Concept in Life?

Now it’s pretty clear that everything has a price. But why do we have to know this? Can we apply this concept in our lives and benefit from it? The answer is an absolute yes!

You might have observed most of the time, the price causes suffering, and the reward we achieve through the price causes happiness. Hence, prices (like hard work) are avoided, and rewards (like success) are favored. But the world is pretty good at keeping balance; it only hands you what you have paid for.

Let’s say you have a stable business earning enough money just to pay your bills. You are playing safe.

But you always wanted to be a millionaire. So, you start taking risks and work hard on your business.

And suddenly, things begin to get complicated. The whole universe seems against you. You face failures, criticisms, and business-ruining risks. All the stability you had is gone.

You may think trying to grow your business was a mistake because that’s what made everything difficult. And then may give up on your dream.

At this point, if you had realized everything has a price, you might not have given up and increased your chances of success.

You wanted to be a millionaire, right? What do you think, it will happen quickly? You would have a desire, everything will be in your favor and whooosssh…. you have millions in your hand. If it happened like this, everyone would be a millionaire.

You have to pay the price. The price is putting effort consistently, solving problems, and suffering all the pain that comes your way. If you pay the required price, you will be rewarded with millions in your hand.

Similarly, if you want happiness, you have to go through struggles. If you want a good relationship, you have to go through fights and bitter moments. If you want fitness, you must ensure some painful gym hours every week.

Whenever you try to achieve a goal, terrible things happen, or you face problems. At this point, please don’t get demotivated and give up. Instead, think of facing those bad situations and solving those problems as a price. The more price you pay, the closer you get to your target.

Every dream requires a price to make it real. People are not willing to pay the price. That’s why their dreams have not become a reality.

Whenever you desire to achieve something, always ask yourselves- am I willing to pay what it requires? If you pay, you will get what you want. Nobody can stop it from happening.

Everything Has a Price- write this sentence in big, bold letters on a page and paste it onto a wall. Read the sentence every day. Let it sink into your mind.

It will remind you that all the painful moments are the price you pay for the happiness in life.