Lots of truth in this although I think you perhaps underestimate the role of interests and personality traits. I’m physically lazy by nature and absolutely loathe strength training, which I have tried in many different forms and for many years. I’m great at other stuff like language learning for example which I find fun and rewarding, even if it also takes a bit of discipline. I have a friend who is a real gym rat with an enviable body, he loves going to the gym and feels good when exercising (but only speaks one language to my knowledge and has no interest in language learning). From the outside it may seem as he is sacrificing more than me when it comes to strength training but knowing how it looks ”from the inside” a more important factor is that he simply enjoya strength training, while I don’t (hence what looks like a big sacrifice to him isn’t one, just as my intense language studies isn’t a big sacrifice for me).
The people who become great at various things are often disciplined etc but it helps if you like what you’re doing. If you hate it, there is almost no way you can discipline yourself to become good at it and you may just as well find something else to get good at - at least that’s my experience.
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RJA
I would like to have a better physique but hate most physical exercise unfortunately. I don't think that one's goals and one's natural abilities/inclinations/interests always line up, although sometimes they do. To some extent I think it's futile to try and become excellent at something you hate doing. And I think that it's dubious to look at people who are excellent at something they (mostly) love doing and focus on how much they have sacrificed and that you can become like them if only if you sacrifice more, even if you hate doing it. But of course, some effort and grit is necessary to get anywhere. It's not black and white. I just wonder if the perspective in this article underplays the role of interests and personality traits behind success in a given area.
For example, Tynan writes "Look at the people who get the best results in the gym (not me, if we’re being honest). They sacrifice that cookie or bread when they really want to eat it, and they go to the gym when they’re tired and really don’t feel like it.". But my experience is that these people love going to the gym most of the time, even if they also need some measure of discipline. From the outside a lot of success looks like hard sacrifice, but the most successful people tend to love what they do. (There are some interesting counter examples to this, for example Andre Agassi who according to his autobiography hates tennis and always hated it)
But you probably don't whine about not being that muscled, just like your friend doesn't mind knowing just one language. Tynan's example is about someone who wants more money but can't save it. If he doesn't 'enjoy' saving money, it will feel as sacrifice. Do you think he's just choosing the wrong goal in that case?