Take the Stairs
7 Steps to Achieving True Success
By: Rory Vaden
Published: February 7, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 224 pages
ISBN-10: 0399537236
ISBN-13: 978-0399537233
Publisher: Perigee/Penguin
"Successful people have the self-discipline to do things they don't want to do. They do the things they don't want to do even when they don't feel like doing them". writes self-discipline strategist and co-founder of Southwest Consulting, Rory Vaden, in his inspirational and real success building book Take the Stairs: 7 Steps to Achieving True Success. The author describes how most people seek the easy path to success, instead of developing the habit of self-discipline to take action regardless of your physical, financial, or emotional state.
Rory Vaden recognizes that achieving success isn't easy, or achieved overnight. With that insight in place, the author points out that becoming successful requires developing the habit of self-discipline. Rory Vaden presents the metaphor that successful people take the stairs, even though that route up and down requires effort and hard work. The author shows us that unsuccessful people search around for escalators, wasting time, and achieving little in the way of results. For Rory Vaden, the better path to success demands making better decisions to develop self-discipline and improve your life. Thinking about success is not enough, writes the author, but instead requires that the individual take real and positive action toward developing self-discipline as a way of living.
Rory vaden (photo left) understands that there are only two types of activities in life. There are the things a person feels like doing, and things that a person doesn't feel like doing. Fortunately, if we learn to do things we don't like to do, writes the author, we can achieve almost anything in life. Rory Vaden offers the wisdom even small choices result in tremendous results, and one of those choices is avoiding putting things off until some supposed perfect time that never seems to arrive.
To build the necessary self-discipline habit to achieve success, Rory Vaden provides his seven principles for overcoming procrastination. The seven principles are as follows:
* The paradox principle of sacrifice
* The buy-in principle of commitment
* The magnification principle of focus
* The creation principle of integrity
* The harvest principle of schedule
* The perspective principle of faith
* The pendulum principle of action
For me, the power of the book is how Rory Vaden combines his philosophy of self-discipline with the practical steps to transform that vision into a way of living. The author demonstrates how to not only change your life, but how to rake charge of that change through the habit of self-discipline. Rory Vaden provides evidence that the embracing of self -disciple, and the ending of the procrastination habit not only benefits individual success, but also leads to enhanced performance across entire organizations.
The prescription offered by the author is straightforward and readily understood. Instead of taking supposed shortcuts that lead nowhere, and avoiding the temptation to try some quick fixes, meet and overcome your most difficult challenges as quickly as possible. With that short term pain, the end result will be long term gain. The author's seven principles of self-discipline are well presented, and offer a blueprint for personal transformation.
I highly recommend the motivational and action oriented book Take the Stairs: 7 Steps to Achieving True Success by Rory Vaden, to anyone seeking a clear and concise road map to achieving success. The author is honest, and points out that there are no quick fixes and that the journey will require sacrifices. This candor only makes the message of the book more powerful and much more believable in its effectiveness.
