Stairway to Success: The Complete Blueprint for Personal and Professional Achievement

PRELUDE TO STEP FOUR

READY, SET, GO!

For all your days, prepare,And meet them ever alike;When you are the anvil, bear;When you are the hammer, strike.

—EDWIN MARKHAM

A good plan takes you nowhere. It only tells you where you expect to go. Tracing your route on a road map doesn’t get you from Topeka to Los Angeles. Getting there requires that you hit the road. But before you hit the road, there are preparations to make. You have to pack your bags, make sure your vehicle is in good condition, fill your gas tank, and stock up on travelers’ checks.

Action usually comes at the end of a series of preparatory steps, best described in the starter’s words at the beginning of a race: Get ready, Get set, GO!

At the “Get ready” signal, foot racers assume a balanced stance that allows them to respond quickly when the action signal is given. Successful people acquire balance, too, in the physical, mental/emotional, social, and spiritual aspects of their lives. When you achieve this state of equilibrium, you’re ready to accept any challenge and conquer any barrier between you and success.

Acquiring balance means achieving that happy medium between minimum and maximum that represents your optimum. The minimum is the least you can get by with. The maximum is the most you’re capable of. The optimum is the amount or degree of anything that is most favorable toward the ends you desire.

Let me illustrate the difference between maximum and optimum. Your automobile may be capable of a maximum speed ...