“It’s incredibly easy to get caught up in an activity trap, in the busyness of life, to work harder and harder climbing the ladder of success only to discover it’s leaning against the wrong wall.” Let’s talk about this quote from Stephen Covey in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
As a business coach, I work with many clients who feel stuck at their job after discovering they’ve built a career based on something they couldn’t care less about for the past however many years. The ladder of success is a tricky subject, especially when trying to figure out where it correctly begins.
Picture this: Two high rise office buildings next to one another.
One building is full of windows like your typical corporate office in a downtown city core. The other, at the bottom, looks like a rundown, old, decrepit, eerie building. Very unappealing and wouldn’t necessarily pique your interest on an average day.
Typically, when given the choice, you would pick the fancy building with the windows as your preferable place to be. However, as you climb the ladder further and further up, you will see that the one with the windows that appears to be glamorous at first, does not change. It is exactly the same from the bottom floor to the very top suite, just like the office buildings you see downtown.
As for the other building – the “eerie” one? As you’re climbing the ladder leaning against that one, the building changes. First, it does appear run down, but then it slowly gets better and better as you climb the ladder. It begins to look like the office building opposite, and then later improves even more as you’re climbing. At the top of the building, it‘s covered in lush greenery, with palm trees and jungle plants growing in every corner of the private gardens, as well as boasting beautiful, rich golden walls.
You don’t see this grand vision of the top of the building when you’re starting out at the bottom.
Most people only make decisions for their life based on what they see right in front of them, and they don’t keep the big picture in mind.
So let me ask you, do you want to end up at the top of the typical corporate office building, or do you want to end up at the top of the gold building filled with lush greenery?
These buildings represent climbing the corporate ladder or climbing the entrepreneurial ladder.
The corporate ladder is very straightforward and the scenery does not change. You might end up on a higher floor faster, but everything appears exactly the same as when you first started at the bottom.
When you’re climbing the entrepreneurial ladder, it’ll be very difficult at first, you’ll go through lots of struggles and it will appear as if you chose the wrong path. You will probably even question your decision a great deal. But in the end, it will prove to be worth it, as your scenery will change and things will get better and better with no limit to the wonderful possibilities. All of your hopes and dreams that you’ve ever desired will surround you.
“If the ladder is not leaning against the right wall, every step we take just gets us to the wrong place faster. We may be very busy, we may be very efficient, but we will also be truly effective only when we begin with the end in mind.”
Stephen Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
So does that mean if you find yourself leaning against the wrong wall now, it is too late for you?
Absolutely not.
You can jump to the next ladder over anytime you choose. And with my help as your been-there-done-that-got-the-results business coach, you don’t have to start all the way at the bottom of the entrepreneurial ladder. You can learn from the trial and error (and TEN years of experience) I’ve already been through, and skip ahead a few rungs to accelerate your progress faster than ever.
👉🏼 Reach out to me on Instagram @itssamanthapeddle with questions about getting your business started, or work with me here.
I’m so excited for you to take the next leap to something even greater!
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