You really need to take the stairs.
I know what you’re thinking. “Who are you, a guy who weighs over 300 pounds, to tell me to take the stairs?”
Good question. The answer is simple. I’m a guy who now is doing his best to take the stairs. Both literally and figuratively. I’ve been reading a book called “Take The Stairs” by Rory Vaden (actually I believe I’m now reading it for the seventh time – in audiobook form, of course), and it’s been inspiring me to finally get my life back on track.
My favorite quote from the book is something that I’ve posted to Facebook and Twitter numerous times already, and I’m sure I’ll post it many more times in the future because it’s so powerful: “Success is never owned, it is only rented… and the rent is due every day.”
No matter what line of work you are in, to be successful you will have to continually put energy into it. If you ever get the thought that you have “arrived” you have already lost. You will never “arrive” – because once you do, you’ll believe there is nowhere left to go, you’ll stop trying to achieve that goal, and you’ll fall. You’ll wonder whatever happened to that success you worked so hard for.
Want to be a success? You need to work at it. Want to stay a success? You need to work at it.
I am a voice artist. I am a podcaster. Will I ever be “discovered” and become insanely famous and wealthy because of it? Probably not. But really, why would I rely on that as my career path? That’s leaving my fate in the hands of someone else.
Being “discovered” is a fairy tale. Being disciplined is reality. Being successful is never owned, it is only rented… and the rent is due every day.
This also applies to health. I will never stumble into a healthy lifestyle. I’ll never look up one day and realize, “Hey, did I just lose 100 pounds?” If I want to be healthy, I need to work at it. I need to sacrifice. And when the day comes that I look in the mirror and say, “Yes – I like what I’m seeing”, I can’t stop working out and eating right. Being healthy is never owned, it is only rented.. and the rent is due every day.
I love my wife. We have a great marriage. We’ve been that way for almost twenty-five years now. A great marriage is never owned, it is only rented… and the rent is due every day.
I urge you to type this out in big bold letters and tape it somewhere you’ll see it daily. Write it on the mirror with a dry erase marker. Make it your screen saver if you have to. Once you understand this one phrase and live by it, it’s amazing how you’ll see your life begin to change – as I have just within the past couple of months.
SUCCESS IS NEVER OWNED, IT IS ONLY RENTED… AND THE RENT IS DUE EVERY DAY.
(In case you haven’t figured it out, I typed this because I needed the reminder myself today.)
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