One more.
You can only control so much in your life. External forces dictate the rest. I don’t buy into the mantra that you can manifest anything you want with grit, determination, and self-belief. By the same token, I also believe that someone who cultivates a mentality of grit, determination, and self-belief will be more successful in their goals and aspirations than most. I also think that people tend to chalk up failures to things outside of their control to give themselves a way out, an excuse. In most cases, there is something that you can control, even in the most uncontrollable situations.
Let’s face it though, sometimes life sucks. Sometimes, no matter what you do, it seems like those external forces that are genuinely outside of your control are bound and determined to pull you back. Sometimes you can do everything right and not see the fruits of your labor. Sometimes jealousy can get the best of you when you see others where you want to be who have bumbled their way to that point. How do you keep moving forward? How do you cultivate motivation when time and time again you feel like you have faced disappointment? What do we do when we feel like we are the nail and life is the hammer?
Ed Mylett is a globally recognized entrepreneur, performance coach, speaker, and author of The Power of One More. He tells a story about his father that gets to the heart of this question. Ed’s dad was an alcoholic for much of his life and went through the difficult journey of getting sober. He asked his dad if he was going to stay sober for the rest of his life. His dad responded by saying “I don’t know, but I can tell you this, I am going to stay sober for one more day.” This is the power of one more.
Even if it seems like it is going nowhere, keep moving forward on the business idea for one more day.
Even if it seems like you won’t find that next step in your career, stay motivated in the application and interview process for one more day.
Even if it seems like you aren’t seeing any results in your fitness journey, get up and go to your early morning workout session one more day.
If you feel like quitting, just don’t quit for one more day.
Compounding takes place when you attempt one more, time and time again. Create and compound more wins for yourself. Promise yourself to go one more day. When you're in the habit of keeping promises you make with yourself, you create a path that you didn’t even know existed. Each of those wins creates an incremental advancement toward your goals even when it seems like the odds are stacked against you.
