Taking the Stairs..

          "There is no elevator to success, you have to take the stairs," is a quote so in-depth with resourceful truths it can only be broken down into many levels. The essence of the quote simply magnifies that the road to success lies in the sweat and equity poured into it, and less the casual walk or "ride" to the top.
In this manner, we must realize that when we choose to be successful and set our minds to such a task that we will face the inevitabal hurdles along the way. The attitude of taking the "elevator" to success lacks the level of discipline and determination success holds. The start to our journey to success must begin with the willingness, knowledge, and preparation of what things are to come. A foolish mind believes success is within choosing YES or NO, when really the YES is only the door you open that leads you to the stairs of enduring flights.  When we choose yes, the journey only just begins.

          After attending an incredible seminar called "Success Starts Now," motivational, determined, and NY Best Seller's Rory Vaden spoke on his recent success in his work,  Taking the Stairs. In his book, Rory dives into the concepts that success is, "doing the things you do not want to do," or "Taking the Stairs."
"No matter how you define success, it requires one thing: self-discipline. But as popular speaker, author, and strategist Rory Vaden explains, we live in an "escalator world" one that's filled with "short cuts," "quick fixes," and distractions that make it all too easy to slide into procrastination, compromise, and mediocrity. What seems like an easier path is really much harder in the end...and, it won't take you where you want to go."

           Rory used an incredible analogy that utilizes the exact commonality of this topic. He created an image of 2 similar animals that against adversity act in two completely different manners while both looking to accomplish the same results. One,  taking the escalator, while one taking the stairs, or the harder path. He eluted to the reactions of a buffalo and cow moments before a storm arrives. First, he went on, the cow can sense the storm is coming from the west and quickly runs to east trying to outrun the storm. As we all know, cows do not ascend from the cat family and cannot outrun anything. Within no time the storm catches up to the cow and what happens is the cow and the storm begin to move parallel to each other creating a longer, painful, more destructive result for the cow. On the other hand, the buffalo also senses the storm on its way and the buffalo runs toward the storm from the east and waits for the storm to meet him and quickly pass over creating a shorter,less painful and desctructive experience of storms.
This analogy creates how the cow, like humans, takes the easy road of running from the adversity which seems to be the smartest idea, when in actuality many times we are far more affected by the adversity. The buffalo is an example of taking the stairs, the buffalo took the path it did not want to, but knew the outcome would be more affective.

          Simple and maybe altogether cheesy, but a very significant example of how sometimes the easy, convienient way is not the best in the end. This analogy signifies the importance of preparing ourselves to face the adversities that living a succesful life will bring. Many of the TOP producers in the world realte a magnitude of their success to the discipline they have for their everyday focus. The discipline it takes to walk the fine line of ethical and honest work. And the discipline to NOT live in an elevator world.

"When an escalator is broker, it does not become a broken escalator, its becomes stairs."