You have to give up something to get what you want

There’s an old maxim that says, “ask and you shall receive.”  I beg to differ.  You can ask all you want, but until you’re ready to put some energy behind achieving a specific goal, you’re going to get nowhere.  I know a lot of people who would love to be healthy and fit, to lose weight even, but they’re not ready to invest the time and energy necessary to achieve such a goal, so it remains a wish.  To get what you want, you have to be ready and willing to give up something (time, a bad habit, stuff you love to eat, things you love to do, people you love to hang out with, etc.) in return.  In other words, you have to give up something in order to get what you want.