This is a great follow-on to yesterday’s post – Jack Boland is someone whom Anne has talked about frequently in her lessons. So take note of what he says about going the extra mile!

Share Yourself
By Jack Boland

 Andrew Carnegie once told Napoleon Hill that the greatest day of his life was that day on which he discovered how much space he could occupy, how much good will he could command by the simple means of rendering more service and better service than he was expected to give. It changed his life. Every time you go the extra mile, said Mr. Carnegie, you place someone under obligation to you, the sort of obligation which must and will be repaid willingly from one source or another. I hope you heard me, the very depth of your being. Do no hold yourself back any longer. Whatever it is that you’re doing that is constructive, that is creative, go the extra mile. Don’t just go the extra mile, go the second mile. Do it with all of the energy, with all of the power, with all of the love, with all of the commitment that is in your being. Do it, be it. Share yourself.

Napoleon Hill said, and I agree, I have never enjoyed a major favorable break which I did not create for myself by going the extra mile. It’s true. You want the breaks that life has to offer you, you’re not gonna find them sitting in the corner, sucking your emotional thumb, waiting for someone to come and discover you there. The corner is not the place to be discovered. Right out where the action is, out front, up front, being the leader, the one who is the most alive, the most excited, the most committed, to be of maximum service to God as they understand and to the people around them, the ones who do not quit, the ones who get there first and leave last. Show me a person who has to look at their job description to know what it is they’re supposed to do, and I’ll show you a failure. Show me someone that is concerned about the clock, and I’ll show you someone that will never reach the top.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, men suffer all their lives long under the foolish superstition that the can be cheated. But it’s impossible for a person to be cheated by anyone but himself. As for a thing to be and not to be at the same time, there’s a third silent party to all our bargains. Infinite intelligence is the third silent party to all our bargains. The nature and soul of things it takes on itself, the guarantee of the fulfillment of every contract, so that honest service cannot come to loss. If you serve an ungrateful master, serve him the more, put God in your debt.

Jack Boland was a minister who believed in and practiced the 17 Success Principles as research by Dr. Hill. He utilized many of Hill’s findings in his lectures to his congregation.

Terrie

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.

Did you find this helpful? Let us know by commenting below!

Terrie



Mental Equipment Checklist
by Dr. Napoleon Hill

There follows a list of very desirable qualities which almost any normal and reasonable person can come to possess and exercise. The list is long and perfection may be only slowly attained. Therefore, before entering into a detailed consideration of the things you would like to have your mind and body capable of doing, let’s at once enumerate those which are absolutely necessary.

1. Physical fitness is of tremendous importance for the simple reason that neither mind nor body can function well without it. Therefore, give attention to your habits of life, proper diet, healthful exercise and fresh air.

2. Courage must be the part of every man or woman who succeeds in any undertaking, especially that of selling in these trying time of intense competition after a devastating period of depression and discouragement.

3. Imagination is an absolute requisite of a successful salesman. He must anticipate situations and even objections on the part of his prospective customer. He must have such a lively imagination as to enable its operation to place him in sympathetic understanding with the position, needs, and objectives of his customer. He must almost literally stand in the other man’s shoes. This takes real imagination.

4. Speech. The tone of voice must be pleasing. A high-pitched squeaky voice is irritating. Words half swallowed are hard to understand. Speak distinctly and enunciate clearly. A meek voice indicates a weak person. A firm, clean-cut, clear voice that moves with assurance and color, indicates an aggressive person with enthusiasm and aggressiveness.

5. Hard work is the only thing that will turn sales training and ability into money. No amount of good health, courage, or imagination is worth a dime unless it is put to work; and the amount of pay a salesman gets is usually fixed by the amount of very hard, intelligent work that he actually puts out. Many people side-step this factor of success.

Source:  How to Sell Your Way Through Life, 1955, Ralston Publishing Co., Cleveland, Ohio, pgs. 72-73.

How’s your checklist?

Terrie