I have often heard from people saying that, “Even after giving my very best I am not getting the results that I aspire.” This is a common phrase heard from people across the world including professionals, entrepreneurs sportspeople and etc. The secret to success lies in not just giving your very best but it is the very best and that little more in your actions that is the secret to becoming a champion.
If you watch horse racing most of the times the champion horse edges past the others just by putting its nose in front. The victory is not decided in yards and inches but it is decided in millimetres and even less than that. That is what life is all about. Victory lies in those extra millimetres. It is about giving something more than what you think is enough.
When a former Indian Coach was asked what was the secret behind the success of Rahul Dravid who did not possess the brutal hitting prowess of Sachin or Shewag or Kohli. John Wright answered that right after everyone leaves the practice sessions it would be Dravid who would spend that extra 30 minutes more than the mandatory practice timings. That few minutes would give that extra edge to succeed. It is that little more which Dravid gave to his vocation every day that brought him the greatness.
In professional terms I call this as Power of Plus 1 which is going beyond one’s call of duty, doing something beyond what is mentioned in your work responsibilities or SOP’s or JD’s.
Let us take the situation in sales and distribution where a sales executive’s responsibility would be to list new products. But I have seen champion salespeople giving that Plus 1 by ensuring that they get what I call as Strike Zone or Eye Level for their new products from the retailer by negotiating with them which results in better visibility for their new products resulting in more sales.
In every field there is a Plus 1 which we can do and all the Plus 1 are those little more efforts like the winning horse putting its nose ahead of others which separates the winner from the losers by a millimetre.
In your everyday life why do you think the food cooked by your Mom tastes so different than the one you have at the best 5 star hotel. It is the Mom’s love which is the Plus 1 which goes into the food which gives that delicious taste which you can never get even at the best of hotels.
This week ask yourself what is the Plus 1 you can do, what is that little more that you can add, what is that which would give you that edge in millimetre compared to the rest.
That’s why I say, “Give Your Very Best and a Little More in All your Actions . That Little More Makes you a Champion.