Many of life’s failures are men who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up ~ Thomas Edison
How many times have you set a goal only to encounter endless road blocks in achieving it? Or you’ve been working super hard on a project but anything and everything that can go wrong does and you end up frustrated, stuck and more-than-a-little burnt out?
You can’t imagine how MANY times this has happened to me. I have hustled, pedal to the metal, and still ended up with little-to-no results to show for it. I’ve been discouraged and wanted to give up on different tasks, situations, projects and even people, so many times, I’ve lost count!
Then one of my own amazing success coaches, Mike G., introduced me to a concept that stuck with me when I encounter those ‘throw my hands up in the air’ situations. Before I let myself think about giving up, my mind pulls me back to this idea and it pushes me to keep going (or maybe I just keep going because I’m a glutton for punishment lol!).
I’d like to share this idea with you in the hopes it will assist you when you hit those hard times too.
The concept
The brainchild of this concept are authors Sam Parker and Mac Anderson. In their book, 212: The extra degree, they talk about how a simple thing like a change in temperature can be an impetus in creating an amazing outcome.
The premise is this - at 211 degrees, water is hot. At 212 degrees, it boils. And with boiling water comes steam. And steam can power a locomotive. So raising the temperature of water by just one itty bitty extra degree is the difference between something being simply very hot and something that generates enough force to power a machine. Has the lightbulb gone on for you too?
Pushing through it
How many opportunities have you missed simply because you were not aware of the possibilities that would occur if you applied an extra degree of effort beyond what you normally do?
Too often we give up right before our “break” is about to come. There is so much value in learning to push through our hard times to discover what might be on the other side.
At the end of the day, this is your life journey and only you are responsible for the results you get. The next time you feel like giving up on something remember that turning up the heat just one extra degree can make all the difference between failure and success.
Hot tip – Grab yourself a copy of 212: The extra degree by Sam Parker and Mac Anderson to explore the concept further. It’s an easy read and really packs a punch with some fabulous tips on using that extra degree of effort to propel you to success.