Going The Extra Mile

Napoleon Hill spent most of his life studying the most successful entrepreneurs in American history. He analyzed men like Ford, Edison and Carnegie at length. He concluded that success followed predictable and distinct patterns of behavior. He suggested that all men and women have similar options open to them. He argued that great success and achievement were available to any and all who would choose to follow certain requirements which he spelled out in his many books.

One behavior that Hill identified and articulated as among the most important principles of success in all walks of life and in all occupations is a willingness to "Go The Extra Mile "; which means the rendering of more and better service than that for which one is paid, and giving it in a positive mental attitude.  According to Hill, this habit which he observed in all the successful men that he studied tended to make them indispensable.  It enabled them to profit by the law of contrast since the majority of people do not practice the habit. It tended to help them develop a keen, alert imagination because it is a habit which inspires one continuously to seek new and better ways of rendering service. It develops the important quality of personal initiative.

Why go the extra mile?  Why go out of your way for others?  Besides the great feeling you get in knowing you have helped another in need, the main reason to go the extra mile is that if follows the universal law of sowing and reaping.  By this law we know that we cannot get something for nothing.  In an expression of modern physics the law of sowing and reaping is described by the second law of thermodynamics which precludes the existence of perpetual motion machines.  Energy must be put into the system!  Expressed in another practical way, only a fool sits in front of a fireplace without wood and demands heat.  The wise man (or one with common sense) collects, chops, and hauls the wood to the fireplace and lights it to enjoy the warmth it delivers. 

In today’s society it is sometimes difficult to see why we should go the extra mile especially when our media promulgates the culture of “instant gratification”.  The benefits of going the extra mile are not often immediately obvious or recognizable, however, with patience and faith, the positive results will be revealed.  Going the extra mile will bring out positive emotions in others you help and provide service for, allowing them to both remember you and feel good about you.