Summary of Article
Most of the people are afraid of taking actions in their lives because they are tapped in the mindset of always being perfect. We make perfect plans and goals but we are so caught up in the analysis of it and become afraid to take action because we are unsure of the outcomes of our decision and this can mess up the perfect plan. When you take this approach, you will accomplish nothing. Life is like this crystal staircase and you have muddy boots with spikes on them. One step in that direction is going to scratch and muddy up the staircase, but your job in life is not to preserve it – it’s to reach the top. It’s not because of the gold up there but because of the very essence of climbing it. It’s who you become in the process. When you reach the top, you get to look down and see how far you’ve come through the mud.
Review
This video is more on inspirational aspect about pursuing goals and making your goals into reality. It communicates deep in our sense of achievement and can help ordinary people to step up their game to really live the life they wanted. Successful companies and businesses emerged because the founders are not afraid to take risks in transforming their dreams from ideas to reality. This video is not a formula for to achieve success, but a philosophy to start acting and embedding in the minds that failure is not a dead end. Visionaries like Elon Musk, thrust his revolutionary, “impossible” ideas to the world and concentrated all of his efforts in taking actions believing that he can achieve his goals. Musk’s otherworldly ambition, divine purpose, defiance of the status quo and fierce commitment to his work proves to us that through hard work and determination, the failures is nothing compared to the prize of our goals. In the words of Muhammad Ali, “Impossible is just a word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
A related article “If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Happy?”, reveals enlightening truths about what truly fulfills leaders. It turns out, if you focus on the power, money, and prestige — you don’t necessarily get better or happier. But if you find something you love, and focus passionately on mastering it — success, and happiness are more likely to follow.
Upon reaching the prize at the end of the crystal staircase, we can see our past struggles, our scars, our broken bones and how dirty the crystal staircase has become, and realize that in the end, the real ‘Gold’ is not at the top of the staircase but the whole climbing process. The awe of making it at the top will give the feeling that you did what others are even afraid to start, the vision of seeing the world in a new light, a new perspective and the sense of being successful in going through the obstacles, the fatigue, the blood, sweat and tears that you sacrificed, is the real prize.
References/ Sources
http://www.thegeniusworks.com/2016/08/elon-musks-leadership-style-vision-obsession-deep-persistent-enough-change-world/
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/04/why-so-many-smart-people-arent-happy/479832/
https://www.bustle.com/articles/164836-the-one-quote-from-muhammad-ali-that-you-should-read-every-morning-to-get-yourself-going