MENTAL LADDER OF SUCCESS

Part 1: "Lessons, Rungs, Steps"

Have you ever noticed how similar people’s lives can be? We eat, drink, work, interact, make love, argue, and fight. What drives these responses? What motivates us to react in the ways we do? What lies deep within our subconscious, guiding our thoughts, words, and actions, and influencing our daily interactions?

Look around. Every life may seem different on the surface, but when we examine them more closely, we realize that each of us confronts similar challenges and opportunities from childhood through adulthood. We live in a world that encourages us to prioritize ourselves above all else, adopting a “what’s in it for me” attitude. This perspective promotes individualism at its core, often leading us to declare, “It’s all about me,” and truly mean it. Our challenge is to engage with these inherent difficulties and learn to overcome them.

Where do we learn how to respond to people and situations? It may surprise you to know that there are twelve life lessons, or rungs, on each person’s mental "ladder" to success. I encourage you to visualize this ladder in your mind, with its different rungs or steps, and how they relate to one another. Picture a ladder with twelve rungs, each representing an opportunity to ascend higher and fulfill your dreams of success.

Throughout our lives, we encounter numerous opportunities to climb this "ladder of success." By successfully engaging with life’s lessons during our journey, we prepare ourselves to recognize and take the risks needed to reach the heights we aspire to. By examining these twelve rungs, we can begin to understand how and why we may hold ourselves back from achieving our dreams, goals, and ambitions.

The first step, or rung, of this ladder is insecurity. Insecurity is a universal starting point for everyone. From childhood, we have all experienced feelings of insecurity. We enter this world as vulnerable infants, and as we grow, we start to recognize our self-conscious inadequacies by comparing ourselves to others. Our conscious responses to these feelings often limit our growth because our insecurities hold us back in small or large ways from successfully reaching our dreams, goals, and ambitions.

We all have insecurities that can affect us in various ways. The more power we give these insecurities, the more they hold us back in life. As our insecurities grow stronger, we face more limitations and relinquish our personal power to them. So, how does this occur?

Insecurities can be seen as ‘emotional baggage’ that we carry with us. If we don’t confront them, we remain burdened by this weight. How can we finally face, accept, or let go of this emotional drag?

Let’s identify the 12 life lessons or steps we encounter on our journey from the first breath to the last.

• Insecurity

• Responsibility

• Dependability

• Reliability

• Accountability

• Credibility

• -Risk-

• Commitment

• Trust

• Forgiveness

• Truth

• Love

These are the 12 life lessons, or mental success ladder rungs, that symbolize the challenges we encounter daily in various situations with different people, events, or circumstances. Each lesson presents two crucial tests: the first related to its individual presence, and the second concerning its interaction with one or more of the other lessons, either in combination or in successive order.

Each step or rung on the ladder of life presents its own unique test, temptation, or challenge. These challenges can also overlap and occur simultaneously, as they are interconnected.

For instance, you might encounter a situation at home or work that requires you to be responsible and accountable in order to build credibility with someone or effectively complete a task. If, at the same time, you are dealing with insecurities, it may feel like you are playing a game of 'Whack-A-Mole,' where new challenges keep arising as you try to address the existing ones.

How can we stop constantly "playing defense" against life's challenges?

What knowledge can help ensure success as we move forward?

Here’s a simple truth: every individual who has ever overcome adversity first had to overcome the power of their insecurities. They allowed their insecurities to hold them back. How do we know this? If they hadn’t overcome their insecurities, they would have continued to be crippled in their pursuit of success. We would not know of them or their accomplishments today.

Insecurities manifest as negative thoughts, such as “I’m too… (too short, too fat, too thin, too bald, etc.)” or “I’m not… (smart enough, pretty enough, coordinated enough, etc.).” So, how do we escape the negative attitudes that shape our self-image? We begin by recognizing that every person alive, and indeed every person who has ever lived, has grappled with doubts about themselves, their abilities, and their opportunities.

Those who have overcome challenges and achieved their dreams did so by finding a way to rise above their insecurities. You can do the same.

As long as we allow insecurity to control us, we'll never feel free from its hold. Therefore, it's important to let go of your insecurities. They are yours, which means you have the power to eliminate them and their influence.

Release that grip, and you will be free—free to begin conquering every step on your path to success.