Let's Take Off/ Mind Cast / #Sharnita
In this solo Mindcast episode, host Sharnita Gates frames the concept of “taking off” as shedding mental barriers to pursue growth. She opens with a personal reflection on perseverance, linking it to James 1:2‑4, which she interprets as a call to let trials produce mature, complete character. Sharnita then dives into the self‑help book Take the Stairs by Roy Baden, summarizing its core premise: success comes from consistently choosing the harder path—taking the stairs—rather than seeking shortcuts or instant gratification. She extracts and expands on several key takeaways: the metaphor of stairs versus escalators, the idea that “discipline equals freedom,” the importance of sticky statements, the cost of escalator thinking, the compound effect of small consistent actions, and the need to overcome resistance with persistence. Throughout, she weaves personal applications—reading as her “stairs,” mind‑mapping to define discipline, and shifting from entitlement to responsibility. She emphasizes habit formation, breaking tasks into smaller steps, and cultivating a growth mindset. The episode concludes with a reminder that success is a journey, not a destination, and that continual commitment to the stairs leads to fulfillment. Sharnita ends by encouraging listeners to “take off” their limiting habits, inviting them to like, subscribe, and stay tuned for future Mindcasts.
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Hey everyone, and welcome to the Mindcast. I'm your host, Sharnita Gates, and I'm excited to be here. Hey, hey, y'all ready? Let's take off. Today we're going to be talking about Us taking off, taking off everything that we can think of that we need to take off. And today is going to be more of a conversation about really, really about perseverance. Let's, let's take off all those things that we think or feel will take us to the place that we're trying to go. Let's even take off the place that we're trying to go. In this time of of discussion and openness and truthfulness and honesty. There's a lot of things that we incorporate here in the Mindcast because we want to keep our minds where it is, on things that are true, things that are lovely, things that are reputable, things that are praiseworthy. We want to think on such things, so we are going to be thinking on those things that really allows us to Really grow in our minds, like renewing our minds. So today I woke up with a, a word of perseverance. And in one of the groups, Daniel's Den, I was discussing the book Take the Stairs. Now, one of the things that I've discovered is how much I really don't read, like This is my second book club in my career, you know, in my lifetime, in career-wise work and just the application of different disciplines. Like reading is a discipline. And so today I was just really like, God, what is something that I really need to focus on? And one, I took an assessment the other day and it was like reading studying. Now, to read and study the word— I do love reading the Bible, you guys. If it is really hard to switch from the Bible to reading books because there's so much I haven't read yet in the Bible, in the word, and that I really need. But I thank God that he opened it up for me to see that he is everywhere. He is everywhere, even in the presence of me reading another book, he's still there giving me the instructions that I need to take off, like really take off some things, or necessarily if I'm standing still and talking about procrastination. So today I really wanted to do a book study because what better way to, you know, take off some things is to take off. Hey, I'm about to take off in reading some of these takeaways from the book Take the Stairs, and it's by Roy Baden. And so I really want to take off the, the, the things that I haven't yet put into place, or things that I have in place, and replace them with some of these, um, practical disciplines and perseverance. Perseverance I'm gonna go back to the word, you guys. So I wanna start with James 1 and chapter 1, verses 3 through 4. And it's going to really give a little bit of context on what I mean by let's take off. And the word says, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance, consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, Whenever you face trials of many kinds, let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. So let's take off the thing that we— we— when we're facing trials, like a lot of times here, trials and tribulations. But let's be honest, sometimes even reading can be a trial, you know. Sometimes learning or thinking or speaking or studying or hearing and listening can be a trial. And I wanted to really take that trial and actually say, let's take off and be doers. You know, we hear about how to persevere. We hear about how to get joy or, you know, this— I have joy, but really taking off the— The armor that I've put on, or we've put on ourselves individually, let's take that off. Let's put on the armor of God and really produce perseverance, because that's that testing of your faith. The testing of your faith produces perseverance. So for me to persevere through reading, I have to consider it pure joy, and that in this season of maturity, He said, let perseverance finish its work. So I have to take off anything that is holding me from wanting to let this perseverance finish the work, like finish the— finish, finish the task at hand. Focus on just this book. We're gonna just go through some takeaways in this book, um, that is called Take the Stairs by By Roy Baten, and it is a motivational and practical guide to achieving success. And it's it's a practical guide to achieving success through discipline and perseverance. In the book, Baten emphasizes the importance of taking the hard path and making sacrifices in order to reach long-term goals. Like we all have some long-term goals, so we're in it. He encourages readers. To, to resist the temptation of shortcuts and instant gratification, and instead advocates for hard work, dedication, and consistency. This is the year of consistent seed. So we need to continue to drop those seeds of hard work, dedication. The book provides actionable steps and strategies for overcoming procrastination. Destination, building self-discipline, and staying focused on personal and professional goals. Overall, the book Take the Stairs offers valuable insights and inspirations for anyone looking to achieve success through hard work and determination. So I'm looking to really be able to take away some things from this book successfully. So I'm looking to achieve success through this hard work of Going through these takeaways, and I'm determined that we will get through it. Okay, we will get through it. So the importance of discipline and perseverance and hard work in achieving success is emphasized in this self-help book. And so let's go through some of the takeaways, the notes, the key points, the concepts, and statements. From the book, this is us doing our due diligence. We're taking off procrastination and we're replacing it with motivation. The principle of taking the stairs. Let's let's go through the principle of taking the stairs. Essential metaphor of the book is the idea that success is achieved by consistently taking the harder path. Consistently taking the harder path. When I repeat something, that means it's going to be something I really. needs to stand out. So consistently taking the harder path, similar to taking the stairs instead of the escalator. This means putting in the effort and discipline required to achieve long-term success rather than seeking shortcuts or instant gratifications. No shortcuts. No shortcuts. Put in the effort and discipline that is required to achieve that long-term success. We in it to win it, okay? Discipline equals freedom. We, we want to be free. We gotta look at discipline. I want to be free to be able to remember that the things that I've just read in these takeaways, I want the discipline. Um, I want to be free to say I remember I remember it stuck with me. It stuck with me. They didn't argue that true freedom comes from discipline. By disciplining oneself to take the stairs, one gains control over their life and achieves greater success in the long run. I'mma elaborate on that one because by disciplining oneself to take the stairs, like for me to discipline myself in this situation, in this mind cast. My, my discipline, my stairs is reading, okay? Reading and studying is my stairs. And I stated this morning that I'm going to stay there until my— I feel That I've gained control over my life and achieve a greater success in the long run, um, of being able to remember. I was just introduced to something called sticky statements. If y'all heard sticky statements, um, yeah, yeah, they, they're sticky statements, but sometimes they don't stick. Um, so in this season, I want to be free from Um, not allow, you know, not being able to have those statements stick. I want them to stick. So the cost of the, of escalator thinking. This is the cost where I'm right now. I'm persevering through paying, you know, paying attention. The cost of escalator thinking. In the book, it highlights the negative consequences of seeking shortcuts and taking the easy way out. While the escalator may provide immediate comfort and convenience, it ultimately leads to mediocrity and missed opportunities for growth. Now, I'm not saying that this, this, this aspect of reading for me is the stairs. The stair— it is But reading is going to allow me to be a little bit more, you know, slow, to be able to take off some of these opportunities, um, and take off some areas of mediocrity. Because sometimes you could be going through some things and some things may not be mediocre, uh, mediocre. Some things may be ex— you know, excellent, and you doing both. But I think in this season it's time to kind of Really slow down and take off some of those areas of mediocrity and some of those opportunities that we think we can't miss, but we can miss them. Or really opening it up to where we can see some areas where this, this is the opportunity for growth. And not just an opportunity for success. Sometimes I, I really would in this season encourage, let's, let's take those opportunities of growth. Procrastination and instant gratification. In the book, he discusses the dangers of procrastination and the allure of instant gratification. He emphasizes the importance of resisting these temptations. Temptations. Resisting these temptations. Let's, let's, let's, let's talk about that. What is those temptations that cause you to procrastinate or, um, have an illusion of instant gratification? That's a, a reflection. That's one of the things I like about these type of mindcasts where we actually dive into some things that really can renew our minds and ask us those questions, those hard questions. So really asking that question like, what are some areas of procrastination or things that allure to instant gratification? Because in the book he emphasizes the importance of resisting these temptations and staying focused on long-term goals. On long-term goals. The compound effect. The book explores the concept of the compound effect, which states that small consistent actions taken over time lead to significant results. Small consistent actions taken over time lead to significant results. Now y'all know I'm going back to the word Matthew 13 when it talks about the parable of this, um, the farmer And think about it, if the farmer was just dropping seed and on the ground, and he started along the path, he went through some areas of rocky soil and some stony soil, and then he found some good soil. But if he didn't stay consistent and take those small steps, you know, or action steps over time, the 30, 60, The hundredfold would have never been reached. So sometimes it's, it's about taking those small steps too, and doing it consistently because it builds momentum and achieves extraordinary success. Think about the hundred of soils. Like, think about— I think about it like as far as the ears that hear, the eyes that sees, the heart that understands. So overcoming Overcoming resistance. Baden acknowledges that taking the stairs is not easy. It is not easy, and it requires overcoming resistance. Oh, let's talk about that resistance. How do you know it's time to take off something, take off that resistance? When you feel it, when you feel that resistance coming, this is this is a reminder even to me. I'm I'm making a mental note. I'm casting that into my mind right now that this is a mental note. When you start to feel that resistance, it's time to persist. Open up that persistence. Okay, so you smell resistance. It's time to you know replace that fragrance with. Persistence. And so the— in the book, it provides strategies for overcoming obstacles and staying motivated, such as setting clear goals, breaking tasks into smaller steps— that's a word— and cultivating a growth mindset. Because I was looking at all my tasks on yesterday No, I think it was a couple days ago. I was looking at all my tasks and I'm like, you know what, I have all these tasks, I have all these routines. And one of the things that came to me and through the conversation was now it's time to revisit those tasks and break them off into smaller tasks or combine them and really persist through getting it done. Because I felt a little bit of resistance coming on. So now I gotta open up that persistence. Here we go, here we go. The power of habits. Let's talk about the power of habits. Developing positive habits and routines. By making small changes to daily habits and consistently practicing discipline, one can make significant progress towards Their goals. Discipline was really in my spirit. I'm like, what is a discipline? What, like, really, really defining what is the meaning of discipline? And that's something I like to do as far as when we do our mind mapping, is first ask what— ask yourself for you to define Define it. How would you define discipline? And after I define discipline, I look it up and say, okay, let's see what, uh, Word says. Let's see what's the def— you know, definition. And yeah, that's a— that's a— that's a mind map technique. So we're gonna do that. I'm gonna do that. A little bit later just to kind of double-check to make sure that I fully understand what discipline is. I know I'm in this season of obedience. I know it's going to take discipline, so that's going to help me to make significant progress towards— you know, it helps us to make significant progress towards our goals. So a mindset shift It encourages readers to shift their mindset from one of entitlement to one of responsibility. We all have a responsibility. We are not to feel entitled to this next door or opportunity or step. Um, we're not entitled for anyone to carry us up the steps. Um, it is our responsibility to get up those steps, and especially if we're not taking the escalator. That escalator gonna take you right up there, but no, no, no, no, no, we are taking the stairs. We are taking the stairs. One must take personal responsibility for their actions and commit to putting in the necessary work. Putting in the necessary work. That's why I said I can read the Bible. I still need to put in more work with that. So now I'm like persevering. It may feel like suffering, but I consider it joy in this suffering because it's new for me in a, in a, in a way where It's a new level, a new level of perseverance, and I'm excited and eager to continue to go through it because it enlightens me on the importance of self-discipline. So it stresses in the book that self-discipline is the key to success in all areas of life. So by cultivating discipline and making the choice to make this, you know, to take the stairs, one can achieve their dreams and create a fulfilling life. So the final thoughts of the book that it concludes is with a reminder that success is not a destination but a journey. I try to get to success, trying to go through success, the journey, embracing the, the principle of taking the stairs and committing to continuous growth and improvement, we can reach new heights of success and fulfillment. Fulfillment. Fulfillment is a goal. Fulfillment is a goal. There are just some of, you know, the key takeaways. Those are just some of the key takeaways, um, that the book offers, and it really offers some good practical advice and motivational insights that helps readers— me being a reader— overcome obstacles, achieve their goals, and live a life of purpose and fulfillment. I love that word, fulfillment, fulfillment, fulfillment. Oh, my biggest takeaway from this conversation is really mind mapping Discipline, obedience, perseverance, um, those words, and really aligning it with my word for this year of consistency. So really taking this time to— yeah, we didn't read the book, but we did go through some great amount of detail. Um, I would love to listen, actively listen to some of the other takeaways, but we'll see. We're gonna see how we can persevere through. I feel, I feel like this is really the time for us to take off. Let's take off. Let's take off. Thank you guys for joining the Mindcast. I'm Sharnita Gates. Make sure that you hit that like and subscribe button. Continue to tune in. See you next time.
