ALWAYS TAKE THE STAIRS….
It first started at the airport as a personal, fun challenge to myself….
Long travel days, especially those from Miami to the West Coast, mean a ton of sitting. So, I started by walking more at each airport, taking two “laps” around the airport near my gate before sitting down. Then, I added the stairs. Anytime there was an option for stairs, no matter how tired or heavy my backpack felt, I would take the stairs. At times, only an escalator was available, so I’d turn them into stairs versus simply riding my way up.
I found this new challenge to be fun and very interesting. I was almost always the only one taking the stairs. The challenge then turned into an experiment in life where my default choice was to always take the stairs. This choice is not easy, comfortable, or even the desired choice, and sometimes my legs start to burn, and I lose my breath a bit, but it’s always worth it in the end. When I’m finished, I tell myself, “I am a person who always takes the stairs!”
This one seemingly small act of taking the stairs is just another discipline I follow in my life. You see, success almost always comes from small, seemingly insignificant, tiny choices that we make daily. These choices compound over time and ultimately yield an outcome of fulfillment, success, freedom, and inner peace.
Society likes to give a negative connotation to the idea of discipline. The perception is that discipline is the enemy of our happiness. Humans, by nature, are built to seek the path of least resistance. It’s how our brains are automatically wired to seek safety and comfort. So, if you find yourself gravitating towards the path of least resistance, know that you are not alone. Remember, I said that in my stair experiment, I am often the only one on the stairs?
Here’s what I know to be true in my life and in the lives of thousands of leaders we’ve coached over the years – what seems easy in life makes your life more difficult in the future.
This concept of discipline and choice-making has been coined as The Pain Paradox. This paradox states that easy short-term choices lead to difficult long-term consequences, and difficult short-term choices lead to great long-term consequences.
– Skipping your workouts and settling for fast food in the short term leads to being unhealthful and overweight in the long term.
– Not having those difficult conversations in the short term leads to unfulfilling relationships in the long term.
– Not keeping your small daily commitments to yourself in the short term leads to a lack of self-trust and low self-confidence in the long term.
I could go on and on here, but I think you get the idea.
My invitation to you today is to start with the stairs. If you have a choice, always choose the stairs, and be sure to tell yourself once you finish the climb, “I am a person who always takes the stairs!”
I promise that this one discipline in the short term will lead to long-term rewards. Oh, I forgot to mention that being the one to set the example proves to create a ripple effect, too – my husband, Joal, always takes the stairs now, too!
Sending you lot of love and light,
Carmen
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