Taking Unusual Routes to the Top
A lot of people have dreams that they feel are beyond their grasps. Perhaps they want to be rock stars, maybe they want to run a business or maybe they want to date that perfect ten.
Whatever the case, often we feel as though we don’t have the means, the opportunity, or the skills we need to get what we really desire.
But perhaps we just lack imagination?
The problem might lie with the assumption that there is one route to the top – that there is one way to get what we want. Maybe you believe that the best way to become rich is to climb the ladder in your business one step at a time until you are CEO? Maybe you think the only way to become a rock star is to get noticed by an agent or a record label.
The reality could be different though. What if the way to become for you to become a famous rock star is actually just to create a YouTube channel and to promote your music that way?
What if the best way to become rich is to write the best-selling book? Or to become rich ‘slowly’ by just infesting smartly?
There are plenty of routes to any given destination and often we limit ourselves because we keep banging our heads against the wall trying just one.
A Great Example
A great example of this is Sylvester Stallone. Sly always wanted to be a famous actor but his slurred speech and muscular physique meant that casting agents wouldn’t take him seriously. He could only ever get cast in bit parts as the ‘heavy’ or a gangster.
Sly was almost completely broke at one failed audition when he mentioned to the producer that he also wrote a little in his spare time. They expressed an interest in seeing his script and he showed them his script for Rocky in return. The script was so well received that he was offered hundreds of thousands of dollars for it. But he refused. He would only sell the script on one condition: he could play the lead role.
We all know how that story turned out and the film ended up launching his highly successful acting career. The moral? Sometimes the route to the top is not the one that you expect. So if you aren’t getting what you want, maybe try taking a different tact?
