12 simple Tricks to Success – Part 2

This is the second blog of a series, “12 Simple tricks to Success” from Findamentror.com. We reveal one trick each month for you to complete and/or practice so that in 12 months you’ll have developed some habits that can expedite your success. Enjoy!

If you read trick number one, all your goals are written or typed. The big ones, small ones and in between ones. The career goals and the personal. You know what you want. Now you can begin to make trick number two a habit:

Go an Extra Mile
. . . and achieve your goals

In everything we do, we can go an extra mile. It is a choice. We can do more than is expected of us.

 

Og Mandino, in his book The Greatest Miracle in the World, wrote a God Memorandum that explains how each of us can be a great miracle in the world. The rule for achievement written in the God memorandum is, “GO ANOTHER MILE.”

When we do more than others expect of us, we get noticed and appreciated. At work, this often means we have first crack at opportunities for advancement. When hiring or promoting, management often considers employees’ ability to do more than is expected.

When we go the extra mile at work, our services become more valuable and we can eventually negotiate better salary, benefits and promotions. Our co-workers appreciate us more when we help them unexpectedly, and co-operation is enhanced. Start now, whether you like your job or not, exceed your employers, co-workers and customer expectations. If your employer doesn’t notice, someone else eventually will and opportunity will present itself when you least expect it.

Here are some examples of going the extra mile at work:

• When our tasks are complete, we could help someone else complete theirs. The number one fail statement I have heard in a work environment is “That’s not in my job description.” When we refuse to do extra, we reject extra success.
• We could learn a co-workers job so we could cover when they are away.
• We could make sure we understand customer expectations by asking and clarifying, and then exceed those expectations. In every job we do, we serve customers of some type. Some people’s customers at work are internal customers. For example, the accountant serves the owner, co-workers, bankers and the tax man. The owners and department managers rely on the accountant’s accurate reports so they can make wise decisions that affect the health of the company or organization. When the accountant gives more information than expected with timely reporting, he or she is noticed and appreciated.

 

Continually ask yourself as a worker, “Am I doing more than is expected of me?” Your career will take off. Continually ask yourself as an employer, “Am I doing more for my employees than is expected of me?” Your company will attract dedicated, hard-working employees who will in turn, attract loyal customers.

I have a client whose mission is to exceed customer expectations 100% of the time. The whole company team works at the objective and they continue to be the leader in their industry in their geographical area.

Outside of work, there are many ways to go the extra mile and many benefits that come from it:

• Going the extra mile with compassion, empathy and understanding in a relationship allows both people to trust each other more. Each person receives a greater degree of honesty and intimacy, and our relationships become healthier.
• You could bring home a gift for your spouse when it isn’t expected.
• Going the extra mile by re-negotiating an agreement that can’t be met before the deadline, rather than breaking it, shows the other person respect. And most often the respect is returned.
• Going the extra mile by paying for the person’s order behind you in a drive-thru line triggers positive feelings in many — the person behind you, yourself, and in many of the workers in the place of business you are at.

Going the extra mile triggers positive emotion in others and in me. Positive emotion attracts more positive emotion, which attracts success.

Sometimes going the extra mile is about perseverance. When I miss making a sale, for example, going the extra mile can be achieved by making more sales calls until I reach my goal.

When I’m working on a project at home and things take longer than expected and I persevere to finish, I feel good about myself and my confidence builds.

Going the extra mile builds success habits and triggers success emotions like joy, patience, confidence, love, peace, determination, etc. People are creatures of habit. When we habitually feel these positive emotions because of doing more than is expected, we attract situations where we receive more than we expect.

The payback comes. It’s the law of attraction. You’ve probably heard of “bad” Karma, which sees our “bad” feelings and actions return to us. But there is “good” Karma, which rewards positive feelings and actions in equal fashion.

If we aren’t directly acknowledged for going another mile, we needn’t fear that we aren’t being noticed. We are — not necessarily by those we thought would notice, but certainly by those truly interested in someone who desires success.

When the habit of going the extra mile is built into our DNA through determination, patience, persistence, perseverance, and with a sense of freely giving, we become more successful in every aspect of life. Just do it. Go the extra mile in everything you do, whenever you think of it.

Thanks for reading. Have a wonderful day doing more than is expected of you. Make it a habit starting this month.

FindAMentor.com