The World upright tarot card represents the inate human desire to take shortcuts and not quite do the job properly. If you’re the type who keeps coming up short, then this is for you.
The World Upright
A great product or service is one that has been done properly. It’s been mastered with many prior revisions. In fact, they say it takes 10,000 hours to achieve mastery at a particular skill.

There are indeed many people attempting to do just enough to achieve success. In a world where people are developing skills at a rapid-fire rate, this is certainly a bad idea.
Your best pursuit would be to do the extra mile. To do more than others will ever do and thus, you can achieve more than others ever can. You then can become a shining example of strong focus and commitment.
Card meaning
The World Upright is a ‘No’ Tarot card. We see the naken woman on the Rider Waite series srapped in a purpose cloth and who dances in a large wreath with laurels on the outside.

Each of her hands holds a wand. This represents the ability to manifest move with little effort, though such little effort can and often does cause us to achieve mediocre results in life.
The oval-shaped wreath is there to represent the continous cycle of tasks and activities. In this case, the woman is stepping through to represent her continual completion of each task very quickly, though they are seldom done perfectly.
The World Upright, much like The Wheel of Fortune, are there to help remind you of the ebbs and flows of your life. There are continual cycles of successes and failures and overall, we do eventually rise. You’ll easily spot the four animals on each corner who are there to guide you and provide a stronger foundation to the journey ahead.
Each animal doesn’t simply do a little bit of work and call it done. For them, if they take shortcuts then they won’t eat. Essentially – they have to get the job done properly and they’re guiding us to go further.
After all, it’s survival of the fittest. If you’re not doing 100% then someone else will.
A job well done
It’s time to avoid the easy work. There is very little competition these days for proper execuition and quality results. Many people on the planet have chosen to find the easy route towards success.
Take for example travel. Many people fly economy or coach (depending on which side of the world you live) where as so few people fly more premium classes such as business or first. Those that do the work do get rewarded with higher levels of comfort and service.
If you’re in a professional job or have an established business then you’ll know all too well the power that one needs to get things done right. If we take shortcuts then our results are clearly shown to our employers or to our clients.
Focus on constant and never-ending improvement. The Japanese have done this very well with their term called Kaizen as have the Germans. Have you ever driven a German car like a Mercedes? That’s a car that hasn’t taken shortcuts.
For now, you may have to go deep into your journal. Ask yourself “Why am I trying to do just enough?” because you are made for so much more. Commonly it’s our subconscious mind that’s choosing the easy path than one that could yield us so much more.
Often if you do 2x more work, then you’ll get 3x more results. How? Because there’s so few people will do that bit extra. They’re distracted today by social media and notifications. If you want more, then it’s time to do more.
Going forward
Avoid the shortcuts from now on. If the results in your life haven’t been quite what you were expecting, then there’s probably an obvious and compelling reason. Often you have taken the easy road.

Are we shaming you? Not at all! We’re merely hoping that you’ll find yourself on a new path and one that has far less competition. We want you to rise above the masses that like to do the bare minimum.
It’s time to play a bigger game. No shortcuts. No easy roads. You were made to get things done properly!
Illustrations from the Rider-Waite Tarot Deck® reproduced by permission of U.S. Games Systems, Inc., Stamford, CT 06902 USA. Copyright ©1971 by U.S. Games Systems, Inc. Further reproduction prohibited. The Rider-Waite Tarot Deck® is a registered trademark of U.S. Games Systems, Inc.