Imagine walking into a 20 story office building, knowing that your upcoming meeting is on the top floor.

You walk into the building and immediately search for the elevators.

To your surprise, and disappointment, some of the elevators show "out of order" signs and the rest are currently being worked on by a team of repairmen.

You ask one of the repairmen how to get up to your meeting on the 20th floor, and he points to a nearby door and says with a shrug, "you`ll have to take the stairs."

While a situation exactly like this may have never happened to you, metaphorically, it`s your life.

You want to reach top of your career, the top of the pay scale, the pinnacle of success. You want to not only do well, but find the shortcuts or "elevator" to the top.

While you know your success in any endeavor, personal or professional requires some effort, wouldn`t you like to make it as painless and easy as possible (which, of course, is why we consistently look for the elevator or the fast track)?

There are no "overnight" successes.

Great success comes from "taking the stairs" and moving towards your goals one step at a time.

As you start to walk up the stairs to your meeting, you realize that while you would have rather ridden, there are some advantages to the stairway.

You are getting exercise, building your stamina, gaining a new perspective, creating a new experience and as you climb the last flight of stairs you realize the pride that comes from the effort!

All of these things are true for the effort you put into life. The efforts you expend create exactly these same benefits: exercise, stamina, perspective, experience and pride.

Given the metaphor of "success in the stairway," what are the ways you can take the reality of effort and make the most of your effort, improving your likelihood of reaching the top floor as quickly as possible?

There are five ways you can use your effort intelligently to make your path to the top straighter and more direct - even if you do have to walk:

Informed effort (find the correct stairway). Many people believe that to create great results you must work hard. Effort, as you`re already seen in this article, is required, but the effort doesn`t have to be hard. More important hard work is informed effort. Are you doing things the way other successful people have done them? Are you taking time to learn the things that will minimize your effort? Make your effort more informed and you will make your job easier.

Continual effort (keep walking). Getting into the stairway is great, but you won`t reach the top unless you keep walking. In order to be successful you must make continual effort. What did you do last week to move towards your success? What about yesterday? What have you done (or will you do) to create greater success today?

Reframe effort (does it have to be work?). If you always think about your work being hard, guess what it will be? (Here`s a hint - it will be hard.) But does work have to be hard? Could it be enjoyable? Could it be rewarding? Once you create a new frame of reference for effort, you make climbing the steps to your success so much easier.

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