I think this is really a great article by Napoleon Hill! I’d print this out if I were you. Study it and apply it in your life.

Advantages in Going the Extra Mile
by Napoleon Hill

Some advantages for doing more than one is paid for:

1. The habit of Going the Extra Miles gives one the benefit of the law of Increasing Returns, in a variety of ways too numerous to be described here.

2. This habit places one in a position to benefit by the law of Compensation, through which no act or deed will or can be expressed without an equivalent response (after its own nature).

3. It gives one the benefit of growth through resistance and use, thereby leading to mental development and increased skill in the use of the body. (It is a well-known fact that both body and mind attain efficiency and skill through systematic discipline and use which call for the rendering of service that temporarily is not paid for.)

4. The habit develops the important factor of initiative, without which no individual ever rises above mediocrity in any calling.

5. It develops self-reliance, which is likewise an essential in all forms of personal achievement.

6. It enables an individual to profit by the law of contrast, since obviously a majority of the people do not follow the habit of doing more than they are paid for. On the contrary, they endeavor to “get by” with a minimum amount of service.

7. It helps one to master the habit of drifting aimlessly, thereby checking the habit which stands at the head of the major causes of failure.

8. It definitely aids in development of the habit of Definiteness of Purpose, which is the first principle of individual achievement.

9. It tends strongly to aid in the development of Attractiveness of Personality, thereby leading to the means by which one may relate himself to others so as to gain their friendly cooperation.

10. It often gives an individual a preferred position of relationship with others through which he may become indispensable, thereby fixing his own price on his services.

11. It insures continuous employment, thereby serving as insurance against want in connection with the necessities of life.

12. It is the greatest of all the known methods by which the man who works for wages may promote himself to higher positions and better wages, and serves as a practical means by which a man may attain the position of ownership of a business or industry.

13. It develops alertness of the imagination, the faculty through which one may create practical plans for the attainment of one’s aims and purposes in any calling.

14. It develops a positive “mental attitude,” which is one of the more important qualities that are essential in all human relationships.

15. It serves to build the confidence of others in one’s integrity and general ability, which is an indispensable essential for noteworthy achievement in every calling.

16. Finally, it is a habit which one may adopt and follow on his own initiative, without being under the necessity of asking the permission of anyone to do so.

    Compare these sixteen definite advantages that are available to man, in return for doing more than he is paid for, with the one sole benefit (that of acquiring food necessary for existence) that is available to the other creatures of the earth through the same habit, and you will be forced to the conclusion that overwhelmingly the greater number of benefits enjoyed by man serve as adequate compensation for his development and use of this habit. This comparison substantiates your statement that it is an impossibility for one to do more than one is paid for, and for the very obvious reason that in the mere act of doing that which is constructive one acquires power that can be converted into whatever one desires.

Source:  How to Raise Your Own Salary, 1953, Napoleon Hill Associates, A Division of W. Clement Stone Enterprises, Chicago 40, Illinois, pg. 120-122.

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