Leading Blog






03.03.23

The Shortcut

The Shortcut

BECOMING teachable and action-oriented clears the way for success. It also sets the stage for The Shortcut by four-time luge Olympian Ruben Gonzalez.

The Shortcut is a business fable full of critical life principles. It is the story of the arrogant and underperforming regional director Johnny Valentine who is on the verge of losing his job. Wanting him to succeed, his boss directs him to the Olympian Café.

The old-world Olympian Café is a place designed around the sharing of timeless wisdom and life-changing conversation. It is here that Johnny meets his mentor, RG. Through a series of conversations, he begins to lay the foundations for success beginning with curiosity (“Always be green and growing.”) and advises him to “find the right leader—someone who has done what you want to do and follow the leader right away, get started, and don’t quit (“If you have to cross a minefield, it makes sense to follow someone who’s already crossed it.”).”

Remember, action produces confidence. Inaction strengthens fear. Every time you take a risk, you expand your comfort zone. Always do the thing that scares you most. All the best things in life are on the other side of that fear.

Don’t be afraid of not knowing. Johnny asks a successful colleague to help lead him out of his old thinking. Through his visits with RG at the Olympian Café, Johnny meets a series of people that share their journeys and the lessons they learned.

Your dream has to become an obsession, or when difficulties arise, you will quit. RG tells him, “When there’s hope in the future, there’s power in the present.”

There can be miracles if you believe and if you’re willing to take massive action. But you have to be willing to go through the struggle if you want to taste the sweet taste of victory. I see people everywhere seeking to live balanced lives. What they don’t realize is that the only way to move up to another level, the only way to achieve their dreams, is to get temporarily unbalanced. You have to temporarily give things up to get to the next level. The faster you want to progress, the more unbalanced you need to get.

Success is simple, but it’s not easy. You’ll constantly be subjected to tests of persistence and courage as you pursue your dream. It’s going to take everything you’ve got. But the good news is you have what it takes. If it truly is your dream and if you persist, the dream will reveal its secrets to you. It will. Find the right leader, follow the leader, then be the leader.

That’s the shortcut to success.

Cafe

* * *

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter for additional leadership and personal development ideas.

* * *

 

Explore More

Leaders Climb Podcast Ruben Gonzales

Posted by Michael McKinney at 06:50 AM
| Comments (0) | This post is about Personal Development



BUILD YOUR KNOWLEDGE


ADVERTISE WITH US



Books to Read

Best Books of 2023

Entrepreneurs

Leadership Books
How to Do Your Start-Up Right
STRAIGHT TALK FOR START-UPS



Explore More

Leadership Books
Grow Your Leadership Skills
NEW AND UPCOMING LEADERSHIP BOOKS

Leadership Minute
Leadership Minute
BITE-SIZE CONCEPTS YOU CAN CHEW ON

Leadership Classics
Classic Leadership Books
BOOKS TO READ BEFORE YOU LEAD


Email
Get the LEAD:OLOGY Newsletter delivered to your inbox.    
Follow us on: Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Instagram

© 2024 LeadershipNow™

All materials contained in https://www.LeadershipNow.com are protected by copyright and trademark laws and may not be used for any purpose whatsoever other than private, non-commercial viewing purposes. Derivative works and other unauthorized copying or use of stills, video footage, text or graphics is expressly prohibited. The Amazon links on this page are affiliate links. If you click through and purchase, we will receive a small commission on the sale. This link is provided for your convenience and importantly, help to support our work here. We appreciate your use of these links.