There Is No Lift to Success — You Have to Take the Stairs
By: Erik Hamre
Tags: Inspiration, Life Lessons, Motivation, Success, Psychology

There Is No Lift to Success — You Have to Take the Stairs

More effort is the fastest way to achieve better results.

Image by kinkate from Pixabay

We are always looking for shortcuts and easier ways to do things. We want to achieve more by doing less. People love to hear about hacks and tricks to get great results without much effort. Unfortunately, a lot of this advice is rubbish. Anyone who ever achieved outstanding performance, has put in a ton of effort.

For those of you who are waiting for the lift to success, I have news; it will not arrive. Although the stairs next to the lift may look long and scary, they are the only and the fastest way to the top. The sooner you start the climb, the faster you will reach your goals.

Building muscle

Few people disagree that lifting weights results in stronger muscles. By gradually increasing the weights, you can completely transform your body. We see direct results between how much effort we put in and how fast we improve.

In the gym, you see exactly how many kilos you lift and can count how many repetitions you do. If you were able to lift 20 kilos last week, and now you can lift 25, you have made progress.

The connection between effort and improvement is not always as evident in other areas of life. How do you know if you’ve become a better writer? How do you know if you’ve improved your business or communication skills? Are you a better salsa dancer than last week? Have you become a better friend, son, father, mother or spouse?

No precise measure of success

Since most activities don’t come with an exact measurement of success, there will be no number that tells you how good you are or if you are even moving in the right direction. This makes it easy to lose track of the connection between effort and improvement.

Just because we can’t see something, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. When we see progress, it’s easy to stay motivated. When the improvement is less noticeable, or we reach a plateau, it can be more challenging to keep going.

It’s crucial to remember that plateaus are an important part of the learning process. It takes time to incorporate a new skill we have learned. This takes much longer than performing a particular action correctly, in isolation. Although plateaus may feel frustrating, they are an essential part of the learning process, and by doing many quality repetitions, we move to the level of fluency that’s required to level up.

Make effort effortless

Making effort effortless is a key mindset that many top athletes and performers have, that makes challenging practice a lot easier. It’s about embracing the challenge and the path to reach your goals.

The reason why an activity seems effortful is usually because of the way we perceive it. Expending effort feels more tiresome in the moment than just relaxing. As you keep improving, you will start to associate effort with your best achievements. Although it’s effortful right then, you know it will lead to wins and great performances in the long run.

Embrace reality

‘Enduring means accepting. Accepting things as they are and not as you would wish them to be, and then looking ahead, not behind.’ -Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal was facing Roger Federer in the final of the Monte Carlo tennis tournament when he asked his coach and uncle, Toni Nadal: ‘How do you see the game today?’

Toni told him: ‘I see it as complicated. Federer has a better drive than yours. His backhand is better. The volley is better too.’ And when he was about to say: ‘Your serves are not even comparable,’ Rafael stopped him and said: ‘Whew! Stop, stop. Are you trying to support me or not?’

Toni: ‘I don’t want to lie to you. It’s better to know the truth. Then you can do something about it. It’s better to know what you have to deal with.’

Accepting reality is a crucial part on your path to progress. People always like to hear how good they are. That they are the best or better than others. That the road to the top will be easy. This will not help them to become better. If on the other hand, you know where you are lacking, you can do something about it and improve.

Toni Nadal ended the conversation with Rafa like this: ‘If you’re capable of playing every point as if it were the last one. If you’re capable of playing this match as if life depends on it. If you’re more excited than him and you’re ready to run faster than him. I think you’ll have lots of chances of victory.’

Nadal won the match.

Get a head start

The earlier you realise that there is no lift to success, the sooner you can start walking up those stairs. As you start climbing, your overview will become better, and you will realise that most people are standing at the bottom, hoping for the lift to arrive.

Instead of waiting, it’s better to embrace reality and start the climb. The longer you get up the stairs, the more your shape will improve, and you will most likely begin to enjoy the rise. As you get fit, going up the stairs is not as effortful as you feared.

Laziness

If you want to become great at what you do, laziness is not an option. It doesn’t matter if you’ve read somewhere that you can become great at a skill in 20 hours. It’s not true. This is the story you want to hear, and the person telling it may have a hidden agenda, like selling a product or increasing their book sales.

Even if you may think of yourself as a lazy person, there are probably areas in life where you are super engaged and excited. These are the areas/skills where you have the potential to reach excellence. Try to pursue those activities you are so excited about, that you don’t mind if you have to do a hundred or thousand hours of practice.

What about disabled people?

‘There is no lift to success; you have to take the stairs.’

This quote may seem unfair to disabled people or anyone who doesn’t enjoy physical activity. But, it’s crucial to remember that it’s only a metaphor, and does in no way imply that people with disabilities can’t be successful, because they can’t take the stairs.

Putting in effort may not involve physical exertion at all. Putting in mental effort is another way to improve. If you’re trying to learn a language or become a better chess player, it requires hours of mental effort, which can be just as challenging as going for a run or climbing a mountain.

If you’re in a wheelchair, you can instead imagine a slope to roll up or anything else that you find challenging. Indeed, you can create a completely different metaphor, if that better illustrates the situation. The takeaway message will be the same, that putting in more effort is the fastest way to achieve results. Best of luck with your learning.

Take home message

Putting in effort is the fastest way to improve and reach your goals.

We often look for shortcuts, but these are often false promises, that are delaying our progress.

Great performers tend to enjoy the process as they know it leads to results and better performance.

To improve, it’s essential to accept reality. Only then can we change it.

Thanks for reading! :)