I came across a story recently from my friend Zach Brandon that stopped me in my tracks. It was about a man named Elisha Otis and how one act of courage helped shape the modern world.

In 1853, at America’s first World’s Fair, Otis stood high above the Crystal Palace in New York City. He was not famous. He was not wealthy. He was just an inventor who believed in something so much that he was willing to put himself on the line.

His invention was a safety elevator brake, but no one wanted to try it. The worst-case scenario was falling to your death. Hard to market a product that requires volunteers with that level of confidence.

So Otis came up with a plan. He built a stage. He climbed onto his own elevator platform. And below him, he hired a man with an ax.

In front of a packed crowd, Otis stood on a platform suspended by a single rope. When he gave the signal, the axman swung. The rope snapped. The platform dropped a few feet and then stopped.

Otis smiled, turned to the audience, and said, “All safe, ladies and gentlemen. All safe.”

The crowd erupted. In that instant, everything changed.

Otis went from unknown inventor to the man who made modern cities possible. Without his brake system, there would be no skyscrapers, no skyline views, no elevators making billions of trips each year.

But that is not the most important part of the story. The power is not that the elevator worked. The power is that Otis was willing to stand for something he believed in.

He did not just talk about what he believed in. He demonstrated it.

Could it have failed? Yes.
Could he have been laughed at? Yes.
Could he have backed down at the last moment? Yes.

But not Otis. When he cut that rope, it was a pure act of courage and belief. It showed the trust he had in his work and in himself. It was a man betting on himself when no one else would.

Now it is time for you to cut the rope. It’s time for you to stop talking about what you believe and demonstrate it.

Maybe it is not an invention. Maybe it is not building a business. But I bet there is something you believe in or that you want to do, and you just haven’t cut the rope yet.

Believe in yourself so deeply that you are willing to go for it. Believe in something so much that you would stand in front of a crowd and announce it. Because the world has a chance to change when someone is willing to step onto the platform and cut the rope.

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