我要发光先交电费
[wŏ yào fā guāng xiān jiāo diàn fèi]
'If I am to glow, I need to pay electricity bills first'. In reality, paying for electricity is necessary to get power, hence illumination/lighting up. Herein lies metaphor - achieving goals requires costs (money,time etc). So if one plans to shine/stand out somewhere someday, one has to prepare and endure sacrifices.