The Price Must Be Paid
Human labor, through all its forms, from the sharpening of a stake to the construction of a city or an epic, is one immense illustration of the perfect compensation of the universe. The absolute balance of Give and Take, the doctrine that every thing has its price, — and if that price is not paid, not that thing but something else is obtained, and that it is impossible to get any thing without its price, — is not less sublime in the columns of a ledger than in the budgets of states, in the laws of light and darkness, in all the action and reaction of nature. – Emerson
Yes, the price must be paid, but the rewards are commensurate.
But as with anything, you must do the work first.
You must pay the price before you receive the compensation.
It’s just how things work.
No one has ever received warmth by sitting in front of a fireplace saying: “I’ll give you wood once you give me some heat.”