13 Traits You Need To Climb The Ladder Of Success
EVERYONE has a ton of room for improvement, because no matter how far you climb up the ladder of success, there’s always another rung, a higher level of success.
Working a ton of hours, means making a ton of money… right? It logically follows, if you work 80-100 hours a week then you should be raking in the dough!
This is a LIE society has SOLD us.
Society tells us working 80+ hours a week, making “pretty good” money, living in a big house and driving a fancy car, all equal success.
But in pursuing that definition of success, most people:
Does that sound like success to YOU?! Heck, no! Let me tell you, that is not success!
What if I told you, cutting BACK your work hours, would actually result in MORE money?
Let me share a few stories from some amazing individuals who found themselves in exactly that same place. They worked like slaves, barely scraped by financially, neglected their families…
…all WITHOUT seeing any business growth!
THIRTY days into her marriage, Melissa Sieks worked 100 hours a week as an entrepreneur, desperately trying to grow her business. Her brand new husband already resented her intimate relationship with her laptop.
Melissa is an extremely driven woman. As newlyweds, she and her husband were riddled with debt. So she had a desire to make a lot of money, to stabilize their finances.
She spent every day grinding away in her business, thinking it was going to bring her the success she craved. Instead, she found herself stressed-out, trapped in a cycle of stupid fights with her husband, and still with NO positive business results.
They were desperate for a way out of this situation. After staying up all night praying, Melissa reached out to a highly-successful woman in her company.
“She didn’t know who I was, but she was a couple of years older and was waaaay more successful than me, so I knew, okay, she must know something I don’t.
She sent me an email back, and said ‘Ya know, I can’t really help you, but my mentor is Dani Johnson. Check her out.’ I got on the website, and a week later I was in California at my first event.”
After that event, Melissa went gangbusters changing how she lived her life. She immediately cut back her hours from 100 hours a week – to 20 hours a week.
“I was terrified at first. It took true childlike faith to step out like that, but I could already see the writing on the wall. If I continued to work like that, I would not stay married and I would never have kids. I just went for it – and saw results immediately.”
When Melissa stopped letting her business control her life, her income doubled.
She stopped wasting time, by eliminating:
See, we become “workaholics,” but in reality we waste time on things that seem like work. It’s not about how many hours you work, it’s about what you do in those hours. When you seriously scale those hours back, you can’t mess around with unprofitable tasks.
After Melissa’s first live event, First Steps To Success, her income doubled within 90 days. And after only 11 months, she and her husband paid off $44,000 in debt. Fast forward two-and-a-half years – they have multiple businesses, Melissa works 5 hours a week or less, and they have one child… with another on the way.
They have taken three vacations in a few short months, her husband has gone on a mission trip, and they have a newfound passion and purpose for their money, as they regularly donate to the extreme poor through King’s Ransom Foundation.
ALL of this happened, because Melissa when desperately sought a solution, God provided it. She learned new skills and immediately applied them. She realigned her priorities. Then, she took that leap of faith… and transformed her life!
And she’s not alone.
Prior to attending First Steps To Success, Chris Stallings, a husband, father and businessman, thought he was doing “pretty well” in life.
“Things were a little crazy, but I thought that was normal. I thought I managed my time pretty well. I thought I managed my money pretty well. We didn’t have any debt. Our lifestyle was fairly convenient. I thought my marriage was pretty good.”
See, Chris was comparing himself to other people. On the outside, it looked like everything was “pretty good.” When he compared his marriage, financial decisions and business success to other people’s lives, he felt he was doing better than most.
But Chris, like so many others, was in denial. He was living a lie. So many of us give the best of ourselves to our business… and we don’t even realize it.
“I went to a First Steps To Success, and went ‘Whoa! I have been on the WRONG track. I spent that first 30 minutes after the event on the phone with my wife, crying and apologizing. It was a defining moment for me. I realized I wasn’t honoring her to the degree I could. I wasn’t leading her the way I needed to lead her. I was a bad money manager and time steward.”
Chris uncovered his own fear of delegation. He had taken on this heavy burden of pressure, feeling like everything fell on him. He didn’t trust anyone to help him, because no one met his standards. But rather than empowering his employees and wife to help relieve that pressure, he tried to control everything himself.
Again, his priorities were out-of-whack. He gave his BEST to his coworkers and strangers at work, leaving the “sloppy seconds” for his wife. He never asked his wife how she felt about their marriage or the way he treated her.
“I saw so many places where I wasn’t giving her the time she deserved, and where I had strings attached. If she wasn’t ‘performing’ well or doing something based on MY expectations, I was withholding from her.
“I learned to elevate the covenant of marriage above the two of us, as individuals. I wasn’t cultivating that relationship like a gardener, but instead, was giving ‘hand-me-downs’ to the person who should be getting the best and most precious from me.
“When I gave her the honor and respect she deserves from me, I saw her change. It was like, ‘Oh, there’s so much more!’ To not see the time with my wife and kids as another task, and not worry about ‘Oh am I doing a good job?’ but just to love, as we are loved by our Father [in Heaven]… that’s powerful.”
Chris cut his weekly hours back from 60, to 30. Now, he has more amazing career opportunities on the horizon than he’s seen in the last 15 years. His business has grown from a company of two employees, to almost eight within the last month and he’s even established a second location. Today, he grooms leaders in his organization, and gives them opportunities to learn and grow.
AND… he spends more time giving the best of himself to his wife and his kids. Like Melissa, Chris experienced a complete life transformation when he shifted his priorities. Yes, it’s really that simple.
Whatever you spend the majority of your time thinking about and focused on, becomes your god. So if your “god” is business, you make choices leading to:
When you place your work in its proper place – BELOW your relationship with your God, BELOW your relationship with your spouse, BELOW time with your kids – He will bless you.
Lindsay Krause was introduced to God at a First Steps To Success event, and she, too, saw her life transformed.
Lindsay was fresh out of college – a new entrepreneur – and exhausting all her efforts striving for success. She tried everything, desperately trying to grow her business. Her then-boyfriend, now husband, resented her long hours. She felt confused and frustrated, and unable to understand why success evaded her every effort.
“I decided the business would be our sole source of income. We moved from South Dakota to Denver, living in a 700 square foot apartment, paying $1200 a month in rent. I sat in front of my computer for 10 hours a day trying to grow this business. I was exhausted. I was frustrated. And I finally decided it wasn’t worth it.”
Lindsay had placed that crushing burden of pressure on herself. When you work from a place of pressure and frustration, it results in manipulation. Then no one wants to work with you, because you bring that turmoil into your client and business interactions.
Instead of promoting a product she felt passionate about, she was ACTUALLY promoting her frustrating 10-hour workdays. She decided enough was enough, and followed the example of the top salespeople in her organization by attending First Steps To Success.
“The very first thing I did after First Steps was surrender control of my life, and my business, to God. It was such a relief to take that pressure off my back and submit to His guidance and leadership.
“I was exhausted of trying to do what the WORLD says is right. I began to see the difference between worldly success, and godly success.”
Since then, Lindsay has cut back her hours significantly. She and her husband have increased their income by 823% AND paid-off $45,000 in consumer debt over just 18 months. They have an investment property and $10,000 in savings. Their marriage is great, and they have two kids.
When she surrendered control of her business to God, she was free to work from a place of peace. And her business exploded!
Something happens when we realize the love our Father has for us. He adores us. He’s our champion. He desires to bless us! Once we grasp that, something just “clicks” into place inside of us. Our entire attitude changes. We see life through a new lens, because we have this all-powerful force behind us, saying “Yes!” and “AMEN!”
We are no longer slaves to our work. The lies, chaining us to society’s definition of success, are broken. We are free to determine our own priorities and design our own dream life.
Friend, if you are exhausted, stressed, working tons of hours without seeing any fruit, desperate for a change, there IS hope.
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All the stories I shared today are from people who took the “fast-track” to success. They all attended First Steps To Success, our 3-day powerhouse LIVE training seminar. You’ll go home with a step-by-step execution plan to get you the results you want to see. Check out all the details here!
EVERYONE has a ton of room for improvement, because no matter how far you climb up the ladder of success, there’s always another rung, a higher level of success.
About 14 years ago, I would see those depressing TV commercials for orphaned children. You’ve seen them…opening with a sappy song and showing a scrawny-legged, filth-covered child with a sad look on his face. And you’re already changing the channel, right?
Failing to confront perceived offenses, just paves the way for MORE opportunities to find offense. Then – before you know it – the relationship is so toxic…EVERYTHING they do presents an opportunity for offense!