When you look in the mirror, what do you see? Do you see a student, a mother/father, a winner or loser, a business partner or sole proprietor? What do you see?
I have many flaws. We all do. There are some flaws that I can control and there are flaws that are at no fault of my own. Some of my flaws are 50% my fault and 50% nature. However, when I look in the mirror, I choose to remain positive. No, I am not the
best looking dude on earth. Yes, I have plenty of extra weight that I need to lose (I am giving it away for free if you need some extra). Even though I can see a lot of my flaws, I stay positive about what see in the mirror.
Every day when I am brushing my teeth, I look at myself in the mirror. I stare into my own eyes. Every single day when I do this, I make a challenge for myself. I challenge myself to go the extra mile. “Carl, go the extra mile today.” There are days that ‘go the extra mile’ means work 16-18 hours. There are days that ‘go the extra mile’ means picking up flowers for my wife. There are days that ‘go the extra mile’ means helping a friend. There are days, just like today, that ‘go the extra mile’ means writing a blog post at 11:30pm when you are tired.
There are days that I fight with myself and find every excuse in the book to stay on course for a regular day. However, staying on course for a regular day is not going the extra mile and all the great success stories never stay on course. They go the extra mile. If you want something great you have to go the extra mile to get it. All of the great success stories also have an entourage of great people around them. Pushing the status quo can be difficult and can be lonely. Having a select group of supportive people is extremely important.
Next time you look in the mirror, take a minute to look yourself in the eyes and challenge yourself to go the extra mile.
Carl Britton, Jr.