The 1% Advantage

Napoleon Hill, in his book the Law of Success, spoke about the concept of Service.  He felt that your personal level of success would be driven by your ability to help others get ahead.  Really, he was speaking about the need to 'over-deliver'. 

"The importance of rendering more service and better service than that for which one is paid"

We often hear about the need to 'go the extra mile', the need to 'over-deliver' on our promises to others in order to stand-out and differentiate ourselves.  However, for many of us, we are already struggling to keep up with everything on our plates, juggling already too-busy schedules and workloads.  How then, could we possibly consider going a mile beyond what we are already struggling to produce?

In short... we can't.  But... we can make the goal a little more realistic, a little more 'doable'.  Instead of considering an 'extra' mile, a 100% increase in our output (yep... not very realistic!) consider instead simply doing/giving/being 1% more.  1%.  That's it!  Think of the beauty and simplicity of that.  We could all likely manage to do 1% more, to give just 1% more effort and focus and time to a task. 

On its own, that 1% might not sound very significant.  However, look at it from its cumulative effect.  Consider... if you did just 1% more per day, for the next month, how much more would you have accomplished and delivered?  Would that increase in output be enough to have differentiated and distinguished you from your competition?  Quite likely.  So many people are under-delivering that increasing our output by only 1% definitely gives us the edge.

Think about the momentum created by that 1% advantage. When we take on a task that's too large for us, we often become overwhelmed by it all and stop taking action, believing that we'll never be able to achieve it.  However, focusing on just 1% improvement each day - that's achievable.  That's doable, and that allows us to rack up success on success rather than failure.  For most of us, that daily positive reinforcement would not only be welcome... it would be invigorating and inspiring.  It would spur us to find ways to give 1% more tomorrow and the tomorrows that follow.

Think... if you grew just 1% per day for the next month... would you even recognise yourself and what you've achieved?  How would you feel about yourself and your life after that month?  Here's my challenge to each of you...  Do 1% more tomorrow.  1% better, 1% extra.  Just 1%.  See how you feel at the end of the day... could you give just 1% more the following day?  Build up the momentum and the power of the effect of accumulation of those 1%'s over time (it's sort of like compound interest!). 

And then... have a totally wild and crazy day where you challenge yourself to double it.  Yep... every so often be so wild, so bold, so daring... as to go for 2%. 

Double-dog dare ya!

The Power of Desire

At the recommendation of someone I greatly admire, I finally picked up a copy of Napoleon Hills' complete text of 'Think and Grow Rich'.  Certainly, I had heard, or read, snippets of it in the past, had read numerous authors referencing it, but it had never moved from my 'to be read' list.  Until now.

I have to admit that already the first chapter has given me pause to think.  The topic?  Desire.  Not a word that we typically apply to our lives as a whole.  We might stop to question what we 'want' in and from our lives, what we 'need' to get by and, perhaps, might even occasionally give voice to our dreams.

But, somehow, desire takes elements of all of these, incorporates them and elevates them.  Desire is stronger than just want or need.  It isn't as transient.  Desire is not fleeting.  It speaks to a consistency and commitment to thought and action belied by both want and need, which are more situationally based. 

Additionally, our desires are more concrete than our dreams.  Dreams, by their very nature, are less substantial, more corporeal, making them less tangible and therefore likely unattainable.  Desire is more earthy though. It has a visceral component to it that provides an anchor for those dreams. It is more concrete, more substantial and, therefore, achievable.

It is the strength of our desire for a 'thing' that gives us the drive to achieve and succeed.  However, admonitions to be 'practical', to be 'grounded', to be 'realistic and logical' in planning our lives and careers has led us to suppress our DESIRE, such that we are left doing, but not feeling.

It's hard to feel passionate about the work we do and the contributions we make when they lack any connection to our deepest desires.  I am beginning to believe that it is the reconnection to our desires that is the catalyst for remarkable change to occur.  Gaining clarity over our desires not only provides us with the destination, but it fuels the trip.  Without it?  We're likely to get caught up in doing and being and going something/somewhere less meaningful or fulfilling.  We're living.  We may even be 'successful' by other people's standards, but at what cost to us?

How much more excititng and energizing to be engaging in activities that feed and fulfill our desire, that move us toward our hidden, and all too often, unspoken dreams?  If this stirs in you a spark of wanting, a 'desire' for more, then I invite you to begin to reconnect with your desires and passions.

Exercise:  (I somehow always manage to work some kind of homework in, don't I?)  You've spent years, perhaps even decades, in stifling and burying your desires.  Don't expect them to reveal themselves to you overnight.  Though...  certainly be open to it should it happen that way for you!

• Consider - if there was enough money in whatever you chose to be or do...
• What would you be...
• What would you do...
• ... and... most importantly...why?
• Explore - how you felt as you answered the above questions.  What does it reveal to you about your desires?  Is there a way to begin integrating more of it into your life right now, no matter how small?  If yes...  then get started and do it!

Remember, no more effort is required to aim high in life, to demand abundance and prosperity, than is required to accept misery and poverty    

                                                                                                      Napoleon Hill